Alyssa Rosenberg lauds restraint:

The extremely restrained man is not a common trope in American movies today.  But as a cold-fish stock trader who eventually loses it (but really only to the point of breaking a sweat, there isn’t a lot of raging) and as a controlled, talented Greek warrior mourning the death of his daughter [Casino Royale and Clash of the Titans, respectively], both roles coming in loud, violent movies, Mikkelsen makes the case that we could use more of them.  Particularly in an era of testosterone monsters and man-children, there’s a lot that’s intriguing about a guy with veiled motivations and emotions.  It’s fascinating to me that Mikkelsen is a huge heartthrob in his home country (apparently his reaction to the fact that he often tops sexist-man polls is “I’d rather be voted ‘the sexiest man in Denmark’ than ‘the ugliest man in Denmark.”)  That he’s getting cast in sinister-dude parts over here says a lot about what American audiences want in a sexy guy–or perhaps a lot about what we can actually deal with.

And via Kottke, praise for shyness:

[R]ight now, shyness is countercultural. Consider: On the reality shows, where variations of mass personality are developed in vitro, the great thing is to be noisy, certain, motivated, taking no guff from anyone. You have to be out there, letting people know who you are: Exposure, formerly something one died of, is now thought to be desirable. Right down the middle of the street you walk, shouting into your cellphone about your sex life, your tax return, your drug use, your spiritual evolution, whatever. Oh for a shy person, in such a climate — for the fascination of a shrinking violet! Peer through those petaled layers of self-consciousness, those secretive leaves; there’s somebody in there.

It’s obviously not surprising that sages get less air time than The Situation, and it goes without saying that awareness–both of the self and the outside world–and perspective are pretty rare qualities today. However, as a nerdy beta male who keeps a lot of the world at arm’s length, I think the world could use a lot more of both.

On the other hand, self-consciousness can easily devolve into navel-gazing or paralysis. The only thing I remember about racist Survivor¹ was the Asian team (as I recall, mostly made up of mid-20s professional types) talking about how they had to avoid acting out stereotypes while trying to light a fire or build a blanket fort or whatever. So I guess we should shoot for Aristotelian moderation.