Seldom does

Can you understand this sentence?:

We like the brownies the way that mom often bakes.




that our daily routine exposure to real people seldom does

exposure / does (observe)

Another way of putting it might be:

"For one thing, we observe fictional people in situations that are always significant and that serve to illuminate their characters in a rare way."

Does that make sense to you? You might also say "rare and unique way." In other words, in a way that is seldom seen.

You correctly asked for the meaning of the sentence as opposed to the specific word, since the 'meaning' of a word is always contextual.
PARAPHRASING
'In fiction, situations are specifically invented by the author to emphasise aspects of a character, whereas in real life those characteristics seldom (rarely) become apparent to us because daily routines involve lack of specific focus.