Movies Totally Misrepresent These Historic Figures All The Time

Movies Totally Misrepresent These Historic Figures All The Time

Shannon Quinn - November 12, 2020

Movies Totally Misrepresent These Historic Figures All The Time
One of the only photographs of Billy the Kid. Credit: Shutterstock

20. Billy the Kid

Hollywood loves Billy the Kid. He’s been in at least 10 movies, and it’s likely that there will be more in the future. In nearly every movie, he’s shown as being a really brave gunslinger with a charismatic personality. The truth is that he was an outlaw named Henry McCarty. He battled in the Lincoln County Wars, and was killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett. What we know of his life comes from a book written by Pat Garrett called The Authentic Life of Billy, The Kid. It’s hard to tell how much of this is coming from Garrett’s biased opinion. After all, as the Sheriff who was responsible for apprehending him, he may have wanted to create a character that was larger-than-life. He wrote, “(Billy the Kid) had a lurking devil in him; it was a good-humored, jovial imp, or a cruel and blood-thirsty fiend, as circumstances prompted.”

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