It's the trade off for having an edge to edge display (plus makes Apple devices stand out, which I expect they like for marketing reasons).
Would you prefer TouchID, mounted under the screen / in the power button / on the rear? Genuine question. Personally, I quite like FaceID on the iPhone, though would prefer it to be on the longer edge on the iPad (as they've now moved to).
What we want, I imagine, is under-screen Face ID and camera that are simply invisible, without quality compromised. This is becoming increasingly possible through marvelous technological advances.
Dynamic Island can be there for notifications, and then the island vanishes, as if it was on the back of a giant turtle…
Also… loved the Gilligan reference!!