product->load as an antipattern?

reproduce.md

<?php

require('app/Mage.php');
Mage::app();


$product = Mage::getModel('catalog/product')->getCollection()->getFirstItem();

var_dump($product->getData('media_gallery'));
//=>NULL

$product->load('media_gallery');

var_dump($product->getData('media_gallery'));
//=>Array

Output:

NULL
array(2) {
  ["images"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    array(8) {
      ["value_id"]=>
      string(5) "59846"
      ["file"]=>
      string(27) "/8/1/81044_Punchy_Peach.jpg"
      ["label"]=>
      string(0) ""
      ["position"]=>
      string(0) ""
      ["disabled"]=>
      string(0) ""
      ["label_default"]=>
      NULL
      ["position_default"]=>
      NULL
      ["disabled_default"]=>
      NULL
    }
  }
  ["values"]=>
  array(0) {
  }
}