I've never even thought about the social aspect of being a react dev - is there one? Frontend sure, but react specifically? It's just a tool, nothing to get ideological or bent out of shape over.
Couldn't give a shit what Abramov says beyond what is useful in my day-to-day. There are probably a lot of junior devs who are starstruck but I've never seen any hint of ostracization (lol). There are tons of junior web devs (and more everyday) though so I can understand how one could form that perception.
Yes to less celebrities and more problem solving.
Hooks are fantastic and so much more composable than the class methods. I use 100% hooks and functional components in my code nowadays and it has never been easier to build and understand my UIs - especially those with non-trivial logic and state. Never had a problem with them being "simple on the surface" but ymmv I guess.