Constantine's flawed humanity makes for good television

NBC's new TV show Constantine, with a second series yet to be commissioned, has joined a long list of shows that have seen fans start campaigns aimed at keeping them alive (Wickline, 2014). It was always going to be a brave decision to try and translate the character of John Constantine to the small screen. The Hellblazer comics are often dark and intensely grim, and Constantine himself is a hero often shown to be flawed and manipulative, and even prepared to sacrifice his own friends should the need arise.

Yet, so far, NBC's new show has held true to that course. We have seen Constantine smoking, itself a fairly big challenge to modern television standards; he has exploited the abilities of his allies, like Zed and Liv; and he manipulated his friend Gary Lester into sacrificing his life to trap the hunger demon Mnemoth.

But we have also seen him struggle with a troubled and violent childhood. He struggles with his guilt over, in his arrogance, failing to save a little girl named Astra. We have seen him show nobility in trying to save people from many dangers that they might not even believe to actually exist.

These struggles, and the weight of burden that his failures have cast upon him, are what makes him a character that is easy to identify with - and were all key parts of the complicated character that was so beloved on the pages of the Hellblazer comics.

The Constantine of Hellblazer is a punk, a bisexual and a smoker. A working-class mage. He is burdened by enormous guilt over the past, and cares about the people around him, though often reluctantly. He gets by on wit and guile, rather than brute force and physical strength.

Even with the faults in his methods, like the dangerous manipulation of his friends and allies, he is still a charming and likeable anti-establishment figure - and that makes him easy to sympathise with. He is a controversial hero, and a complicated and imperfect person who earns our sympathy through his flawed humanity.

These things, translated to the small screen, make for a fascinating character. His belief in himself is not unshakeable - he has doubts. He has regrets. He is caustic and short-tempered. He is manipulative, using, and exploiting his friends. He is self-righteous when he gets the chance, and angry when he gets called out on his hypocrisy.

These characteristics make him flawed and vulnerable, and so reveal to us his humanity. They are the kind of traits that make for a great television character.

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References:
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+ Dan Wickline's 'There Is Now A Save Constantine Petition'; on bleedingcool.com; 27 November 2014.

+ Alan Moore, Stephen R. Bissette & John Ridgway's 'Hellblazer'; DC/Vertigo; 1988. [Buy Now]

+ Daniel Cerone & David S. Goyer's 'Constantine'; on NBC; 2014. [Buy Now]