When does art become obscenity? That’s the question writer/director Sean Patrick Shaul asks and his response is to make the excellent documentary, Cover Your Ears.It shows musicians fighting back against censorship, the moral implications, and legal proceedings that often follow when a case goes to court. The villain isn’t the music industry. Instead, it’s those groups formed by parents and extremists who believe they speak for the masses.
In what these talents call artistic expression, other people see something else. Few people know that, in comparison to current trends, Mozart and Beethoven even had their share of controversy. They inserted questionable lyrics into the operas they wrote. And what about those dirty sea shanties? Sometimes they reach the mainstream, and it’s enough to make many women blush. When this work traces the origins of censorship and what makes a good, catchy, song, even I had to scream and shout!