I do not think that CE is unreasonably expensive. As long as you can get an R or D fare it seems quite affordable to me. I would never buy a J fare for CE though, unless it was only a bit more than the lowest available economy fare.

I do value the empty middle seat in CE. On an LHR-CDG in 2007 I was in 1A and there were only a few other CE passengers. ET was rammed with not a spare seat to be seen. And plenty of rugby players too!

There was a long delay on the ground, a couple of hours if I remember correctly, and I was on the plane for about 4 hours in total. In that case I was jolly glad of my CE seat and I resolved that I would always be prepared to pay a couple of hundred pounds extra for CE again.