Translating John Constantine from the page to the screen seemed to involve a lot of unexplained, unnecessary tweaks and changes. Some things were kept in tact, but his misanthropy, scouse accent, smoking habit, and even his bisexuality all went out the window. You know, all the things that made him interesting. The latter change was especially egregious, given the lack of representation for bisexual characters in almost any popular fiction. The whole point of John Constantine is that he's a bit of a self-destructive sort who will give into carnal pleasures whenever he can. And, honestly, a guy who's seen some weird stuff isn't going to be your vanilla hetro hero. As with the smoking, all of these changes were symptomatic of a larger problem: sanding down all the character's rough edges to make him a palatable TV star. But John Constantine without the rough edges isn't anything at all. It's the rough edges that made him a compelling character in the first place. He's kind of an asshole who only helps people begrudgingly, is a total slut, and who will just as likely condemn a good soul to Hell if it means he can knock off early. Without that he's just Dean Winchester. And you can't blame viewers for preferring to watch him. Why do you think Constantine was cancelled? Share your thoughts down in the comments.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
