MovieChat Forums > Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) Discussion > I didnt find Billy the Kid to be especia...

I didnt find Billy the Kid to be especially sympathetic..

posted 12 years ago by KittenCommunism
2 replies | jump to latest

I know little to nothing about the actual Billy the Kid, but the way he was portrayed in this movie did not really make me feel much sympathy for his character like I feel I was supposed to. He does murder a lot of people, not all themselves evil or despicable. He shoots deputy Bell in the back, and then goes out of his way to mercilessly kill the other deputy with his own shotgun, as if he had found some ironic inspiration in doing so. Most of the time, we are told that he is great and awesome, but are rarely shown what would make him such a idolized figure. He sure does sit around a lot, though.

I get the impression that I was meant to like Billy the Kid and feel sorry for him as he got killed by the end of the movie, and yet I did not feel so. Maybe it's because I dont know the history behind his character, or maybe there's an angle to his character that I didnt get.

[–] Samoan Bob 12 years ago

You're supposed to feel sympathy for Pat Garrett. The film isn't about how sad it is that Billy the Kid was killed, but rather how sad it is that Garrett killed his own friend. The film is an examination of Garrett's damaged soul and because of that Billy the Kid is more of a symbol than a fully-rounded character. Watch it again and keep Garrett in mind, not the Kid.

http://www.facebook.com/scarletworm

http://facebook.com/davidlambertart

[–] PussyCrusher_Principal 10 years ago

Agree with Garrett being the MAIN focus (his name is first in the title, not insignificant). Also, from what I can gather (I am by no means an expert on Billy, and his history in particular is further muddled by conflicting accounts on his life), a lot of the Billy mythology was started when Garret wrote a book on Billy, partly in an attempt to set the story straight on what actually happened, which seems to have begun as a project because Garrett's reputation had suffered greatly by, over time, because the perception had grown that Garrett had done Billy teally dirty in the way he killed him. It seems there is still dispute over what actually happened. But I think Garrett, at least in his view, should have always been seen through sympathetic eyes, and this film is very interesting the way it explores it from Garrett's POV. We see Billy's too (Bell really sort of asked to be shot in the back didn't he? Billy warned him not to move, why he thought Billy wouldn't shoot him is beyond me) but we see Garrett as a tortured soul.