Another such moment where Doc's character is called into question is the brief, yet poignant, gunfight that occurs between himself and the film's hero, Wyatt Earp. .
What Doc Holliday does as enigma westerner in My Darling Clementine is that he makes the heroism of the film more realistic and accessible to the audience without tarnishing the luster of the heroism. The average person in society, both then and now, lacks the spotless moral character and heroic nobility that Henry Fonda's Wyatt Earp does. As a result of his impeccable moral character, he is harder to relate to on a personal level. When Doc Holliday does eventually side with the forces of good (Earp) for the climactic gunfight at the OK Corral, he creates a character that will be viewed as heroic while at the same time he possesses the qualities of humanity, making mistakes, but, in the end, standing up to be counted with the good guys. The average person can relate to this character, as they are both prone to mistakes and error as well as siding with good and doing the right thing. Holliday, as the film's enigma westerner, bridges the gap between the purity of the hero, Earp, and the average human being. Through the character Doc Holliday, the film achieves its accessibility to its audience. .
In the film, The Searchers, Ethan Edwards, played by John Wayne, is one of very questionable motives and shady character. He has an unrequited love for his brother's wife, he mysteriously came into possession of freshly minted money, to which he never explains where it came from, and lastly, he tries to kill Debbie when the two men, Ethan and Martin, finally find her. In the end, however, at the film's moment of truth, Ethan decides to be a hero rather than a murderer, which makes him the film's enigma westerner. .
Ethan and Martin search for Debbie for five years before they finally find her. It is when the men find her that the audience realizes that Ethan appears most impure and least heroic.
