Every time I read about Bitcoin Cash I get more confused.
Is it free money or not? I was under the impression that it's value will drop hard, so it is practically worthless and pointless.
That's the consensus. But the consensus (in markets) is usually wrong. I.e. When everyone thinks the price is going to moon, it usually drops. This is why the commitment of traders (e.g. BTCUSD sentiment on BFXdata) is commonly used as an indicator by traders. It's important to know when the market is heavily weighted towards one position--that side will often get squeezed.
I don't think BCC is useful as an altcoin, but that doesn't mean it will be worthless. Speculators gonna speculate.