I can't agree entirely with that but yes, some it is a show too. But let me give you a great example. I pick Chris Lord-Alge because he's a perfect example and his work can be easily found.
I know he mixes well on hardware but once I've came across some YT tutorial video where he mixed a whole session in a box. I thing he was using Waves, maybe a promotion, can't remember now. It's long, you can probably find it.
It looked like he struggled a bit not being able to get the sound he wanted out if the plugins.
That's what I got out it it anyway, you might see it differently.
Edit: Found the video. To me the production sounds somewhat plastic with no depth to it compared to his 3D depth like sounding hardware work. Maybe he just had a bad day, maybe it's the plugins, who knows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGlYgAv96bw