Nope, it's really not unreasonable to view his actions as selfish and evil. Evil in the way that he clearly prioritized his own feelings, his own well-being, above the possible salvation of humanity, above even what Ellie actually wanted--He wanted Ellie all for himself, without willing to hear what she herself wanted. He even killed Marlene in cold blood because he didn't want the safety of his selfishness to be compromised in any way.
That what makes the ending so powerful and unique, in my eyes. It's different than many other endings where good and evils are so easily defined.
Do you think Marlene would have let Joel live if he handed over Ellie? Joel killed the person who sent Ellie to die, without her permission. Regardless of how Ellie felt about giving her life, she was never actually given an option about this.
"Cold blood" is such a strange phrase to use on someone who leads a group of people that have thrived on destabalizing the last QZ Zones in America. She had zero qualms with taking agency away from Joel to kill Ellie, and threatening to put a bullet in Joels head of he wanted to cause a fuss
"This is a gift, dont waste it", said the person who kidnapped the mans daughter and is about to disect her like a frog so this person can have the ultimate Trump card to hold over the rest of humanity. We have seen just how well and nice the Fireflies have been to other groups, Im sure entrusting them with absolute power would go over well.
There is very little "Evil" in TLoU. David would be considered the only person who would fit that description because he clearly uses his power over others for his fucked up sexual desires. Being a canable 20 years after the fall of society isnt even all that evil either, its just desperate.
Joel is selfish, but being selfish is not evil. If it is, then any parent who prioritizes the wellbeing of their kids over others are evil, and thats ridiculous.
No father/mother would sacrifice their kid for a post society humanity like the one Joel has lived in. Nobody has the right to tell him to sacrifice his only loved one for the "greater good". Even if he did ultimately rob Ellie of her own personal salvation, it wasnt the Fireflies call to split her brain open out of pure desperation.
That's the epitome of selfishness. HE is willing to do anything to save her. It's what HE thinks is right to do. Not for humanity, not for Ellie, but for him. He then LIES about it. How can that get any clearer?
Ok, letting a loved one not die is both
1) Selfish because of your love to them
2) Selfless because you care enough about them to rampage through a hospital of heavily armed men to make sure the person you love is still alive and isn't harmed.
Viewing Joel's "irrational love" as something strange and indicative of a psychopath is basically warping his words to fit a personal view that Joel is a psychopath. Joel has like, no psychopathic tendencies, at all. He has emotions, he has empathy, he cares for others... He was visibly shocked at the death of Henry, was basically guilted into taking Ellie because of his connection to Tess (what ever that was), and eventually allowed Ellie into his life and took her in as his own.
Will Joel break your fucking knee cap if you cross him? Yea! Joel is not a good person. He has killed innocent people, we know this, Joel does not shy away from his past. He's not hiding what he has done or what he is willing and capable of doing, and you can see this tension with his brother and what they did together over a decade ago.
Because at the end of the day, do you want to be Joel, or the poor saps who were gunned down in the middle of Pittsburgh by a 50 cal. because you decided you were going to be a "good" person?