Arguably, the internet, due to its sheer size, provides a useful environment
for the presentation of primary documents. This part of the analysis will
look at the nature of primary sources relating to the Motion Picture
Production Code that are on the internet. It will argue that the few sources
that are online have been haphazardly 'dumped' on the net, and that little
effort has been made to actually use them in any way. It is divided into
two sections; the presentation of the code itself and the presentation of
other sources.

The Code Online

There are six different versions of the Motion Picture Production Code
currently online. One of these is an illegible, scanned version of the code
put up for a course at the King's College London . Whilst each of the other
five would appear accurate, as based on a comparison with a print version of
the Code (see note below) they can be classified according to their
completeness. The least complete version of the Code is, interestingly, the
only one presented by one of Rosenwieg's 'quality' sites. The History
Matters website has put up a version of the code, cited from Leonard J. Jeff
and Jerold Simmons that does not include the 'Reasons underlying the General
Principles' or the 'Reasons Underlying the Particular Applications', two
sections that actually make up the bulk of the code. The Reformation of
the Arts website, a Christian-conservative site on cultural values, and the
Montreat College have both put up a full version of the 1930 code but have
ommited all of the subsequent amendments. The version of the Code put up on
the Crime in the City and on the Screen site is alleged by one website to
be the 'most complete' and whilst it does contain the subsequent additions
to the code, it doesn't go as far as David P. Hayes' version which
includes all subsequent amendments as well as outlining, in different
coloured text, the changes made to the wording of the Code throughout its
history.

It is also worth commenting on what is done with each of these codes. Only
the The History Matters version has an explicit context for the code, one
that focuses on Mae West, given as part of its presentation. The Crime in
the City and on the Screen heading might be said to imply a particular
context for its version, whilst the The Reformation of the Arts version of
the Code, which has no explicit context is linked from a list of good
reading, a list which includes articles on the superficiality of
contemporary media and which thereby create a context. All of the codes bar
two are barren of any links, and the reader can only navigate through the
code by scrolling through the text. The Crime in the City version allows
the reader to jump within the text, providing links fron sections to the
reasoning behind them. David P. Hayes' version allows for this, but also
theoretically provides the ability to link from any section of the text to
an example of its implementation. Unfortunately none of these links work.
Whilst it is allegedly a site under construction, this is not one of the
problems listed in David's explanation of the site. Although it does not
work, it does provide a point of comparison with the other codes which would
appear to use the internet in an entirely additive fashion.

Other Primary Sources

Surprisingly, there are almost no other sources online. Indeed, despite my
hopes of finding a mass collection of material, both the Carleton P. Simon
and Will Hays ' paper collection sites proved to be nothing more than
online catalogues. There were only two other primary sources I could find
on the internet. One was a copy of Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson,
Commissioner of Education of New York, et al. which appears to have been
placed online as part of a free speech course but has been given no context
whatsoever. The other was a full text version of Hortence Powdermaker's
1950 book Hollywood, the Dream Factory, an anthropolgist looks at the
move-makers (sic). Whilst it is presented along with a biography of the
author, a book review, and the author's response, it is also lacking in
terms of historical context.
 

Conclusion

Ultimately it would appear that there is little in the way of primary
sources for the historian online. Whilst there are numerous copies, of
varying quality, of the Code itself there is little else of any use.
Furthermore, what has been put online tends to be merely 'dumped' there with
no contextualisation or attempt to use hypertext to make sense of the
document. All in all, the historian would struggle to do serious research
based on the sources that are online.

Notes

Gerald Mast (ed.), The Movies in our Midst: documents in the cultural
history of film in America, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1982,
pp.321-333.
 
 

Introduction
Part One: Primary Sources on the Web
Part Two: Secondary Sources on the Web
Part Three: The Impact of Hypertext
Conclusion