HDR is as real as anything else here. I like it as a way to show a scene that would be impossible to expose all of it properly with one shot. Its a way to present a scene that can more closely resemble what your eye saw, prevent loss of detail in both highlights and shadows at the same time, and it can be a way to present a scene that is far beyond what you saw when you took the photo.
Its like saying adding a texture isnt real photography, or selective color, or any other photographic processing technique we have available to us. What is the point in shooting digital if you cant take full advantage of it?