>>/52842/
Yeah I can see that the looks can be offputting. My current set of wheels has 45mm depth and I think it looks ok with MTB tyres, haven't tried any deeper so far.
And yes, the wider IW "flattens" the tyre quite substantially and makes the sidewalls more vulnerable. And for bigger MTB tyres even if that doesn't cause problems, the bigger IW causes the shape of the tyre/tread to come out wonky compared to how the tyre was designed to work. John Karrasch described 2.2" Race Kings as being awful to ride on 30mm IW wheels, and I take his word as a gospel in gravel tyre discussions.