Adam Lambert vs. Malaysia, and 7 Other Stories You'll Be Talking About Today

Also in today's edition of the Broadsheet: More MPAA outrage... Hilary Swank earns a charming new classification... The Social Network's misogynistic streak isn't Aaron Sorkin's fault, says Aaron Sorkin... Jeff Gaspin is tired of bloggers... Howlin' Wolf finally breaks through to the influential impotence market... and more...

· A day after the Pan Malaysian Islamic Party vowed to "proselytize to concert-goers" if Adam Lambert's forthcoming concert there goes off, the American Idol runner-up pledged to tone down the homoeroticism in some of the numbers. "It's something I'm doing out of respect," Lambert told the AP. "It's just one little thing. Man kissing another man is something that government really doesn't appreciate." Right? Can't we go back to the repressed good old days of Clay Aiken touring in the closet? [AP

· As you know, the MPAA celebrated the 20th anniversary of its despised NC-17 rating by bestowing it on Blue Valentine. This is one of the better screeds decrying that decision, that rating, and the ratings board's pigheaded bullying over the years. It doesn't mean Harvey Weinstein didn't engineer this whole "controversy" himself, but still: Worth a read. [Pajiba

· Paul Giamatti and James Woods are signed up for HBO's adaptation of Too Big to Fail, journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin's exhaustive account of the Wall Street crash and subsequent bailout. Giamatti will play Fed chief Ben Bernanke; Woods is aboard as loathed Lehman Bros. CEO Dick Fuld. They join a cast already comprising William Hurt, Billy Crudup, Topher Grace and Cynthia Nixon. [Deadline]

· "Growing up in a mobile home in the Pacific Northwest, Hilary Swank unwittingly found herself placed in her first role: trailer trash." And thus begins an otherwise lovely new profile of the Conviction star. [LAT]

· "Facebook was born during a night of incredibly [sic] misogyny," wrote Aaron Sorkin in a comments-section defense of The Social Network's depiction of its women. [By Ken Levine]

· NBC Universal TV boss Jeff Gaspin is ready for entertainment bloggers to stop kicking him and his network around any day now. "It's not just the hateful stories, but the nameless postings that follow afterward," he said upon accepting an ADL award. "They are often hurtful, dangerous and sometimes even destructive." What a baby. Er, I mean, absolutely! Meanies! [Variety]

· If you ever wanted to know how blues legend Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightning" became the theme of Viagra's fall-TV campaign, it's your lucky day. [LAT]

· Annnnnd your headline of the day: "Men Who Play Nazis for Fun Try to Explain." Even better: One of them is running for Congress. [NYT