Reality and fantasy are often thought of as two worlds that when they collide create incredible stories of wonder and mystery. Because no other literary genre is more popular than fantasy right now. Seventeen of the twenty highest-grossing films in the United States and Canada last year were fantasy, and of those the top six were based on books or comics (MPAA, 21). Fantasy allows the inexplicable to happen and creates a world separate from that of reality. As such, fantasy stories often allow audiences to escape reality and travel to places where their problems don't matter. Fantasy is used in children's stories as it allows the author to both avoid the banal and monotonous world and deal with complicated issues under a veil that children will understand. This essay will examine both the realms of fantasy and reality in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, as well as the first thirteen issues of Superman. The struggles the protagonists face and how the separation from reality allows children to absorb the complex morality of right and wrong; the message of fundamental human virtues. Fantasy allows the reader to “consider and speculate on central and sometimes painfully realistic themes in a way that is more palatable than in fiction or realistic fact” (Kurkjian et al. 492). Character creation and setting in a fantasy realm provides audiences with an emotional distance that gives them space to objectively reflect on sensitive and important ideas more than in other genres. Yet there is an irony in fantasy that "despite the imaginative characters, strange imaginary worlds and bizarre situations encountered, encountered, has the power to help us better understand reality" (49... half of paper... ...and he can make himself special. Superman doesn't talk about an invincible man who can jump building or run faster than trains, he teaches that the power of good virtues: truth and justice will always resist in the face of evil and will stand tall .defeat him. Fantasy allows the reader to address issues such as global fame, child abuse, persecution, betrayal, war, death, and resurrection without having to explicitly address those issues Greed is wrong without teaching children about capitalism. Likewise Harry Potter's fight against Voldemort allows children to see that there are evil people who only want to hurt them without having to introduce Adolf Hitler. It is because of these implications that adults also enjoy the story, these feelings are reflected in engaging scenarios without involving world politics.