How real is fiction?

The other day I was trying to convince my Mom of the probability of something happening and she wasn't buying it. Finally I came out with "It happens in movies.", as if this was if not conclusive, at least reasonably strong proof of my point. After I said it I stopped for a second as I realized the ridiculousness of what I'd said. While this is taking my ideas to an unreasonable extent lately I have felt that parts of fiction were almost part of my reality. We always write off fiction as improbable, ridiculous, and to be slightly scoffed at...or on the other hand something to be somewhat long for, but but not to be expected in real life. But, all fiction has a base in reality, first in the mind of it's creator, and secondly in us, the audience.

In order to create imaginary happenings it seems that nearly everything must have some base in the experience of the creator. Whether staying realistic, or reacting against the realistic and creating unrealistic there are bases in real experience and emotions. In some cases I feel like things we label as improbable wouldn't be in fiction if similar things didn't actually happen. Things remind me of snatches of books I have read and movies I have seen. I have fallen off the back of a treadmill, found that sometimes one can see pain in people's eyes, heard stories of how couples met as crazy as anything you've ever seen in a chick flick. Small things, but in a strange way it sometimes feels like suddenly discovering a friend I didn't know I had, other times I am totally incredulous that I just actually saw that happen for real, often funny, sometimes eerie, sometimes reassuring, other times sad. On the other hand, however, fiction is fiction, and just because it happens in movies doesn't mean it is likely to happen outside of fictitious confines.