I've always heard, from both your Church and mine, that icons are our "windows to heaven", i.e., that they give us glimpses into what and who awaits us after the resurrection and judgment, should we make it there (Lord have mercy).
Granted, that's not their
only purpose (some, like the milk-giver icons, emphasize the humanity of Christ for theological reasons, rather than depicting what we should expect to see in heaven), but if we take that as a base from which to understand the function of icons in the context of Orthodox theology, then it should make sense why certain Catholic images "give us the heebie jeebies", to quote Fr. Matt above. While I agree with the OP that it is good that we not rely on our feelings, it
can also be a good sign when we are disquieted by things that give us pause for theological reasons, even if we can't always put our finger on why. I mean, I'm no iconographer, but I can definitely see the difference between this:
And this:
(Sorry for the wonky bit of the image in the bottom left where I had to try my best in MS Paint to cover the artist's full name and phone number which some yahoo put on the photo in an attempt to watermark it/drum up further business...ugh.)
These both depict the same event (St. Bishoy, 320-417, carrying Christ in the desert), which is a well-known event in the saint's life, but obviously the latter is more Western-influenced and fleshy. I am not personally a fan of the Scandinavian Jesus look of the second, though to be honest the first is not my personal favorite image of this event, either (it's just the icon that happened to be in my home church when I took that photo). But at least it meets the basics of Coptic iconography in ways that the other doesn't: in the 'matching' look and proportions of the faces, in the color palate that fits 'neo-Coptic' iconography, in actually identifying the saint by name and with a traditional honorific
Pimenrit ente Iisous Pekhristos "The beloved of Jesus Christ", which echoes his commemoration in the liturgy, etc. So it can properly be considered an icon, and I can venerate it with no reservations (which we did, being a parish named after the saint in question). The second image should probably not be venerated at all, and I only say 'probably' because the Church unfortunately cannot dictate to people that they cannot have chintzy-looking RC-influenced wall art that looks like it belongs in my grandma's house in their own houses. I mean, I guess it
could, but I mean that in the same way that you'd still live in a country that is inundated with RC images, produced by people that don't know better and sold to people that don't know better, regardless of any decree. It's a problem of not enough people knowing the difference, because they are poorly theologically-informed with regard to icons. This is precisely why the
theological principles behind iconography are so important and need to be taught everywhere, and on this front I would certainly hope that more OO would begin to look to the EO for an example of how to do that. (Since we never had a problem with iconoclasm as a communion, we likewise never had to defend icons, and since the 19th century more and more Western art has crept into OO countries like Egypt and Ethiopia, where it coexists rather uneasily and poorly with the traditional iconography that you would have found absolutely everywhere as recently as the 18th century, e.g., in the art of an iconographer like Yuhanna al-Armani, whose works decorate the 3rd century "Hanging Church" of Old Cairo.)
The point here is not to write a treatise on Coptic or OO iconography in particular, but to say that when you recognize what is proper and acceptable in your tradition -- and its deep reasons for being so (that it is an integral part of the expression of the theology that is likewise expressed in the liturgy and in all aspects of the Church's life) -- then things outside of it may be recognized as being such, and your reaction to them is probably going to change. So this is a
good step, despite how uncomfortable I'm sure it feels. As to what you should do about it...well, the EO posters have said as much. I am with them that printing out icons that you see online and framing them seems to be the best solution for now. This is something that people I know have done, but I have not done so because I do not have access to a color printer.