Perhaps I am just too dumb to understand all this (and there's a lot to be said for ignorance being bliss), but this all sounds like a solution to something that isn't a problem. I mean, the shot is eithet in focus or not in focus, right. Some things in life really are dualistic, either-or.
Not entirely.
Focus is dependent upon many things, and the desires of the photographer may be very different.
First, we must consider that not all cameras have the ability to focus through-the-lens (for example, rangefinders), which puts the burden on the photographer to understand and control focus through depth-of-focus understanding.
Second, one must consider that the zone of focus in front and back of the subject is a creative zone for the photographer if they wish to control it.
For example, in a portrait, do I wish to use a very open aperture and a longer focal length lens to completely isolate the subject's face, making the entire background a featureless blur, or do I wish to have some parts of the background (or foreground) in relatively clear focus? By experimenting with aperture, focal length, and distance from the subject, or even the formula for the lens itself (petzval, rapid-rectilinear, triplet, etc), I may produce many different kinds of portrait of the same person in the same pose in the same location, and each will impart a different feel to the resulting photograph.
So yes, focus is focus, but...what happens everywhere the focus is not sharp is also important - or it can be.
Bokeh is another subject, and unrelated to focus. If someone decides to make their photo out of focus, for whatever reason, that's fine. We can choose selective focus, lots of DOF (which again, is not about focus but DOF of focus), shallow DOF, etc. It's all OK. I have some Holga shots that are blurry and out of focus, yet they make a good image in my mind, even though nearly everyone I show them to fixates on the fact that it's out of focus and can't seem to get past that to, is this a good image or not?
Bokeh is not unrelated to focus, as it is a reference to out-of-focus objects and how the lens renders them. It is focus plus many other aspects, but it relates primarily to focus.
As to whether or not people like a photograph and the way it might be rendered by a Holga, that's not really as important as how you prefer the photograph to appear. If the result is what you wanted, then it's fine. You can't control whether or not people have the same taste you do.
