Even people who wrote an single excel script call themselves hackers here (and are defended for it! I've seen it happen)
EDIT: At this point in my life I'd be embarrassed to be called a hacker. So I don't feel ashamed being an impostor here.
Fortunately I don't think that anyone has tried to claim that posting to HN makes you a hacker. It's (news (of interest for hackers)) rather than (news of interest (for hackers)). So posting doesn't mean you are claiming to be a hacker, just that you are interested in the stuff hackers are interested in.
By the way in my view some of the most interesting hacks are done in Excel (for example the guy who wrote an Excel 3D engine - http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3563/microsoft_excel_r... - no one can seriously claim that this isn't a hack in the best sense of the word.) Making constrained systems do things they were never designed to do is practically the definition of hacking.
If you have to call yourself, your company, your product or your programmers "rockstars" then none of you are real rockstars. If you have to ask "what's different about rockstar's lifestyles compared to the small people?" then you definitely have no idea what you're even talking about.
It's just like being called a "hacker", or a "gangster" or similar. You either have legit street cred, and thereby are automatically included amongst an elite, meritocratic subculture, or you don't.