Last weekend, the latest Harry Potter book outsold Hollywood’s biggest movie. This disproves the idea that kids need the fast-cut media rush to be entertatined, writes Frank Rich. “We live in a blockbuster entertainment culture, where the biggest Hollywood movies, most of them pitched at teenagers, saturate the market for a week or two, then vanish with little lasting trace on the collective consciousness. There’s not enough time for the word of mouth that might allow something special but not instantly salable to find a mass audience, so why should a big studio take the chance? It’s easier just to churn out the proven formulas and franchises, dumb and dumberer with each installment. This disposable blockbuster machinery is the antithesis of the career trajectory of the ‘Harry’ series.”