Having grown up in the 1990s, a decade full of great movies, Tombstone was a major part of my upbringing. With all those iconic quotes, unforgettable characters like Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and Johnny Ringo, and some of the best shootouts ever filmed, there are plenty of reasons why this is considered one of the best Westerns of all time.
Until recently, I hadn’t watched the great Kurt Russell movie in years, and in doing so, I realized something I had long forgotten: the movie does one character dirty. No, it’s not Doc, Wyatt, or any of the Earp brothers (or Cowboys, for that matter). Instead, it’s the lawman-turned-proprietor-turned-U.S.-marshal’s common-law wife, who is given the short end of the stick on multiple occasions. Let me explain…
Tombstone Is An All-Time Great Western And Wyatt Earp Is A Great Character
When it comes to iconic Westerns, few movies come close to the magnificence of Tombstone and its story about new beginnings, redemption, reluctant heroes, and righteous vengeance (and great mustaches, but that’s beside the point). From the time I first saw Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday take on the Cowboys behind the O.K. Corral at a friend’s house as a kid, I’ve been mesmerized by the movie, and it honestly gets better with age.
Though Kurt Russell’s characters from John Carpenter movies will always take up prime release in my heart, his take on Wyatt Earp is undeniably iconic (and not just because that’s a first-ballot Hall of Fame mustache he’s rocking). The lines, that reluctance to take on the Cowboys because he knows what it’ll bring, his slapping Billy Bob Thornton, and then later calling folks “curs,” it’s all great. I mean, his transformation from beginning to end is wonderfully powerful, and it’s a journey I never mind taking over and over again.
But The Way He Treats His Wife, Mattie Blaylock, Is Outrageous
I know I just said Wyatt Earp is one of Kurt Russell’s most badass characters, but you know what’s not badass about the historic figure, at least how he is portrayed in Tombstone? Well, the way he treats his common-law wife, Mattie Blaylock (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson), throughout the movie.
I mean, this guy pretty much wants nothing to do with her before they even get to the titular town of Tombstone early in the runtime. Sure, there’s that wholesome shot of the Earp brothers with their brides looking at their reflection in a storefront window, but then he starts harping on her about taking too much laudanum all the time. And it just gets more outrageous from there as he becomes too wrapped up in the goings-on of town and his infatuation with Josephine Marcus (Dana Delany).
He’s off shooting, gambling, going on long horse rides with a famous actress while his wife is lonely at home with nothing to do but be confused about her husband and what he wants out of life.
Mattie Is Treated Like A Cold, Lifeless Junkie Throughout
While Wyatt Earp and his brothers and turning around the fortunes of the Oriental Saloon and making Tombstone an even more bustling frontier town throughout the movie, Mattie is just there on the sidelines doing nothing. Treated like a cold, lifeless junkie who’s so hopped up on pharmaceuticals she can’t keep up with her husband and his happenings, the character seems like an afterthought at times, which is a shame considering she was such a big part of the real Wyatt Earp’s life, at least for a time there.
Whenever something big happens, whether it be the Cowboys riding into town causing mischief, someone getting shot in the street, or Morgan Earp (Bill Paxton) dying on a pool table after being shot in the back, Mattie is just there. I get that the movie is loosely based on historical figures, but there wasn’t anything positive to share about Mattie?
And Wyatt, when he’s not pining over Josephine and trying to find a way to make it work, or slapping the crap out card dealers, constantly belittles his wife about her addictions and treats her more like a child or younger sibling than someone with whom he shares a bed. Instead of helping her or at least asking her what’s going on, Wyatt offers no solutions.
I Just Kept Feeling Sorry For Her More This Time Around
Though I will admit that it seemed like Wyatt and Mattie’s relationship was never on the best of terms, and it seemed like a matter of convenience instead of love, I found myself feeling sorry for her more and more as the movie went on. Just imagine spending years with someone, traveling across the American West with them, planning on making a life with them, and then having them meet and fall in love with another woman as soon as they reach their destination? Like, what is that?
Again, Mattie wasn’t the best person, but Wyatt Earp was pretty much slowly breaking up with her the entire time they were in Tombstone, but wasn’t brave enough to just call it off. Well, he did send her on the train with Virgil (Sam Elliott) and his wife before everything went to hell in town, but honestly felt like a copout to get rid of her and not have it hang over his head.
Then The Movie Ends With Her Having An Off-Screen Overdose. Wild!
The real icing on the cake when it comes to Tombstone doing Mattie Blaylock dirty is in the final minutes of the movie. When the narration is revealing what happened to all the major characters, Mattie’s fate seems like nothing more than a footnote, as it’s revealed she overdosed not long after leaving Tombstone. And what’s being shown on the screen while Mattie’s fate is discussed ever so briefly? Well, it’s just Wyatt Earp and Josephine Marcus dancing and kissing in the snow. Just rub it in, already.
Is the treatment of Mattie Blaylock enough to ruin Tombstone for me or anyone else who watches? No, not really. But it still bums me out that the character was treated with such disrespect and disregard when she clearly needed help or at least some attention.