Q&A 4, Second Answer

The basic form of my question is: Can the intensity of one's emotional response to a fictional situation exceed the intensity of one's emotional response to a similar real situation?

I think so, yes.  It is probably more common to react in a stronger manner to a real life situation, as one knows that real people are affected therein, but there are also many exceptions.  For example, one might react with stronger emotion to the fictional death of a beloved character than to the death of a relative one only met once.