How do you feel about unpaid internships?

Trying to see the general consensus on this.

I’m in a little bit of a pickle. I have 2 semesters left in college until I graduate and have zero “real world” work experience. I have some individual freelance projects I have done and I work as a student assistant on campus, but that’s it. I’ve applied for numerous internships in my field, but rarely will a company get back to me. Two finally did but both are unpaid, which I was unaware of before. One I turned down mainly because they (as well as their facility) seemed sketch, but we have an agreement that if they need any freelance projects, they will refer to me. The other company is bigger and more legitimate, but as I said, they won’t be paying me. They would need me to work from 9–6 multiple days a week and the company is located an hour’s drive away. I’m not sure what to do because I despise the idea of free labor, but I need some experience and fast. It just doesn’t sit right with me because I know I produce very good work (the director over the department even said I’m a better artist than he is) and the thought of giving that away for free is foreign…

What do you guys think? Not just of my situation but of unpaid internships in general? Do you think it’s fair?

Personal opinion, I think all companies should at least pay minimum wage for the trouble interns go through to get there and back, etc. After all, the company is profiting.