Since the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks the United States had been involved in conflicts across the globe. These conflict have given rise to the use of target killing, commonly known as assassination as a way to eliminate enemies of the United States. A majority of those killed are of Middle-Eastern descent and/or are followers of Islam. Elements of American popular culture since 9/11 have portrayed assassination, with the antagonists generally being of Middle-Eastern or Muslim descent while the protagonist being a white American or from a country allied with the United States who is involved in the conflict. By using a case study analysis of six fictional novels, three films and two television series, this study will examine the negative portrayals of Arabs, Muslims and individuals who go against the idea of whiteness and Americanness.
","abstract_html":"<p>Since the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks the United States had been involved in conflicts across the globe. These conflict have given rise to the use of target killing, commonly known as assassination as a way to eliminate enemies of the United States. A majority of those killed are of Middle-Eastern descent and/or are followers of Islam. Elements of American popular culture since 9/11 have portrayed assassination, with the antagonists generally being of Middle-Eastern or Muslim descent while the protagonist being a white American or from a country allied with the United States who is involved in the conflict. By using a case study analysis of six fictional novels, three films and two television series, this study will examine the negative portrayals of Arabs, Muslims and individuals who go against the idea of whiteness and Americanness.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Marinella, Kevin"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Criminal Justice","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Wendy Wright
Carolyn Petrosino
Jamie Huff
"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2018-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:22:00Z","subjects":["Criminology","assassination","middle-east","popular culture","Islam","critical race theory"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://vc.bridgew.edu/theses/56","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Wendy Wright
Carolyn Petrosino
Jamie Huff
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"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Fake Realities: Assassination and Race in Popular Culture"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Wendy Wright
Carolyn Petrosino
Jamie Huff
"],"dc:creator":["Marinella, Kevin"],"dc:date.available":["2018-05-14T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Since the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks the United States had been involved in conflicts across the globe. These conflict have given rise to the use of target killing, commonly known as assassination as a way to eliminate enemies of the United States. A majority of those killed are of Middle-Eastern descent and/or are followers of Islam. Elements of American popular culture since 9/11 have portrayed assassination, with the antagonists generally being of Middle-Eastern or Muslim descent while the protagonist being a white American or from a country allied with the United States who is involved in the conflict. By using a case study analysis of six fictional novels, three films and two television series, this study will examine the negative portrayals of Arabs, Muslims and individuals who go against the idea of whiteness and Americanness.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://vc.bridgew.edu/theses/56"],"dc:subject":["Criminology","assassination","middle-east","popular culture","Islam","critical race theory"],"dc:title":["Fake Realities: Assassination and Race in Popular Culture"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Criminal Justice"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:22:00Z"}