Page - 13 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 05/02

can help us understand how everyday images of destruction or decline might contribute to a sense of disempowerment, disillusion, and a hope that change – whatever that change actually is – will bring about change. In a certain sense, all these images communicate the – often shattered – hopes for a better life. They communicate a desire for change, a shared agreement that things must change, and the shared disappointment in past promises of change. I mean here not necessarily unfulfilled promises by the EU, but the disappoint- ment of pro-Brexit voters in the political system and political elites. “What they wanted”, Nick Westcott argues in an LSE blog post, “was to be noticed.”10 APOCALYPTIC IMAGININGS – WHAT THIS ISSUE IS ABOUT The articles in the thematic section of this issue of the JRFM address a number of issues that can help us better understand not only the films, TV series, or texts the authors are looking at, but also broader socio-political and psycholog- ical issues linked to an apocalyptic mood we can trace throughout a number of societies today. John Lynch’s article on Mr Robot (TV series, US 2015–2019) dis- cusses questions of authority, reality, and belief. Stephanie Bender in her article on Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam Trilogy (2003, 2009, 2013) is interested in how apocalyptic imagery can help social actors think about and imagine bright- er futures. We can use Jennifer Woodward’s discussion of J. J. Connington’s 1923 apoca- lyptic novel, Nordenholt’s Million as a starting point to explore and better under- stand socio-political narratives of salvation. Javier Campos Calvo-Sotelo looks at the idea of critical dystopia in music and the importance of art. It will be fasci- nating to see how critical dystopia in art, or more specifically music in the case of Campos Calvo-Sotelos’ article, will continue to react to and transform with current forms of activism, such as the FridaysForFuture or the protests in Hong Kong at the time of writing of this editorial. Bina Nir concludes the thematic section with a reflection on the perception of time and Western ideas of wether and to what extent the future can be influenced. Again, this is quite a timely reflection in the context of Brexit where the promise of Brexiteers is “to take back control”. OPEN SECTION The Open Section starts with Teemu Taira’s analysis of James Bond films with a religious studies perspective. He argues that religion is often used to label and single out the other, non-Western, or exotic. David Dalton provides us with an 10 Westcott 2019. Editorial | 13www.jrfm.eu 2019, 5/2, 7–14