Less than two months later, Mr. Takenaka has tamed such startling talk, transforming himself from a crusader into a comforter.
After showing us a startling photo of himself posing with the actors, he announced that his parents were in the audience.
Rembrandt's startling portrait of himself as the Prodigal Son, unsubtly hoisting aloft a long, cylindrical goblet of wine, while Saskia, in the guise of a plump tavern whore, perches on his lap, became in Picasso's etched version a piece of ornamental pornography.
Mr. Cicero's allegations were all the more startling because he implicated himself.
Ramanujan's knowledge of mathematics (most of which he had worked out for himself) was startling.
The notable exception has been 2008's JCVD, a claustrophobic heist thriller in which he plays himself to startling effect.
Miliband, he said, suffered a bunker mentality and was "still trying to find himself", a startling criticism given that Miliband has been party leader for three years.
But Mr. Miller himself remained something of a cipher, long on charm but short on memorable lyrics, even though he was clearly influenced by and given to mimicking great rappers like Big L. On his second album, "Watching Movies With the Sound Off"(Rostrum), he's threatening to become a great rapper himself, a startling turn of events.
The savvy, surprising selection includes — along with images by Man Ray, Andres Serrano, Walker Evans, Nancy Burson, and David Wojnarowicz — one of the earliest photos of the Shroud of Turin, Vik Muniz's three-panel rendering of "The Last Supper" in chocolate, and F. Holland Day's startling 1898 portrait of himself as the crucified Christ.
