“You still haven’t explained how Kylo being redeemed comes at the expense of Rey and Finn’s stories.”
Because time is finite and spending time, energy, and effort on focusing both Rey and Kylo’s arcs on “Saving Kylo” as the primary goal takes time away from better, more interesting, more worthwhile storytelling endeavors for both of those characters.
I’m also not misunderstanding your point. I’m not saying Kylo isn’t redeemable. He CAN be redeemed. He DOESN’T WANT TO BE, though. And that’s where the compelling aspect of his character really kicks in, and where the tragedy of him is most resonant. And that’s the story of the first two movies. That’s different.
I’m not sure I buy this argument. Kylo is a main character as much as Rey or Finn. Time should be devoted to his conclusion, as it should be to those two. Even if he wasn’t redeemed, his character would still be deserving of ample screen time to conclude his story. If this is the Skywalker saga, and he is a Skywalker, we should expect some care given to his role.
I also believe they were very much trying to set up a scenario where it wasn’t Rey’s job to save Kylo. Where he needed to come to that decision himself, to choose the right thing to do. That’s where his redemption is supposed to be different from Vader, who is only saved because Luke believed in him (technically TROS did do this, though not very elegantly). Kylo has burned all his bridges at the end of TLJ. He tells himself he doesn’t want his soul saved, but it’s left him empty to the core. For me, just from a general storytelling perspective (regardless of the larger saga implications) it’s uninteresting if he doesn’t progress in a meaningful way from that point on. That’s what I mean when I say it’s “boring.”
I would have liked to see an attempt at atonement for the character. What happens when you turn back to the light and you don’t die? Because sacrificing is sort of cheap, easy way out. Having Kylo face up to those he’s hurt - Rey, Finn, Poe - could have lead to interesting, powerful places. Not everyone would be so easily forgiving, which is another interesting thing to play with. Doing the right thing, not for the sake of being forgiven, but simply because it’s the right thing, which is another interesting and different idea that could have been done (that would have been in keeping with the saga, in my mind). And yes, screen time would have to have been spent on this, but I don’t believe it’d necessarily have to be at the expense of any other character. Really I think they shackled themselves by trying to maintain the traditional 2hr runtime. TLJ knew that it was working with a bigger story than usual, with more main characters than other movies, and it had a runtime befitting of that. TROS as is is a film feels like a 3hr story awkwardly crammed into a 2hr movie.
I understand that you and I have fundamental disagreements on this specific issue, and despite the fact that we’re probably not going to bridge that divide ever because of the way we look at the story, the story’s possibilities, and other key factors, I do want to say that while I disagree, I DO understand where you’re coming from, and I appreciate the level of thought and time you put into the conversation, and that you’ve never gotten angry, impatient, or mean-spirited about that disagreement. It’s very much appreciated.
Likewise, of course.