Isn't England near Britain?

Is it just me or have the Simpsons been doing more international episodes lately? The history nerd inside pissed himself laughing when I heard the usually not-so-cosmopolitan Homer declare that Italy should have remained a "loose confederation of city-states, trading with each other and occasionally warring." Are the Simpsons trying to educate the masses? Surely not.

I've met some very worldy Americans, but a large number of them can be down-right ignorant of anything, well, not American - admittedly Aussies can be rather parochial at times (and completely ignorant of their own history). Apparently, Hollywood can be the solution according to George Lucas:

Lucas endorsed US students studying abroad to help imbue them with more global perspectives.

"Study abroad is extremely important; just for kids to get outside this country and experience the fact there is a big world out there," Lucas said.

"We are a provincial country. Our president has barely been out of the country."

An onus is on filmmakers to be careful with the messages they send because they speak "with a very loud voice", the famed movie director said.

I can see it now. In Episode 7: my young padawan, to fall prey to the dark side of the force is a common error, much in the same way as thinking Sydney is the capital of Australia and New Zealand is inhabited by hobbits and dragons*.

Entertaining? Perhaps not, but neither was Attack of the Clones. BAM!

*Everyone knows it's Hobbits and sheep - I've been to the Auckland airport.