The principal and vice-principal are actually decent people who stand up to Chris's father and do their best to stop the bullying. The vice-principal does get Carrie's name wrong, but he still tries to help her. There's also a nice moment after the scene with Chris's father, where the principal notes that his job is on the line, and the vice-principal immediately promises that he's with him.
There's a moment where one of the boys at the prom starts goofing around, and Carrie briefly thinks that he's making a threatening gesture toward Tommy. Her instant reaction is to consider using her powers to knock the guy away from him, before realizing that they're just having fun. She was willing to reveal her powers to the entire room in order to protect Tommy.
At the very end of the book, a young mother named Amelia writes a letter to her sister about her young daughter, Annie, who is turning out to have the same telekinetic powers as Carrie. When she sees Annie playing "marbles", she remembers her own grandma using her power to protect the family. Her only worry is that Annie has inherited her great-grandmother's "heart spells" as well. And if you choose the interpretation that Annie is the reincarnation of Carrie, then after everything she's suffered, Carrie finally knows what it's like to have a family who loves her.
George Dawson and Frieda Jason complimenting Carrie in her dress is a nice moment that stands out in a version of the story where (unlike the films) most of the students really do still treat her with at least some scorn.
In the book's Scrapbook Story elements an excerpt from Sue's Autobiography I Am Sue Snell when she talks about Prom Night, despite everything that happened that night to her friends, classmates and town, she makes it clear that until the catastrophe that was the Crowning, she still hopes that Carrie had the time of her life and that she was finally happy for once.
Tommy offers to take Carrie out for a hamburger and root beer after prom, a gesture that obviously really touched Carrie, who'd never been asked to go to a meal — or anyplace — with someone before. Tommy really did want Carrie to have a nice time.
In the snippets of Sue's autobiography, she frequently emphasizes how awful Carrie's life was, and how terribly everyone treated her, and makes a point of showing the reader that Carrie was not evil, or even dangerous before the prank happened. She's not just using the book to clear her name; she's trying to clear Carrie's, too.
Sue in her book also takes the time to note that people always ask her how she was sure Tommy loved her.
"Because he told me so, Mister. And if you'd known him, that would have been good enough for you."
1976 film
Sue sneaks into prom and watches Carrie and Tommy dancing together from under the stage. She spends all her time there smiling, happy that Carrie's having a nice night. And though it falls firmly into Nice Job Breaking It, Hero territory, Sue's visit to the prom ends with her seeing Chris set up the pigs blood and goes to warn the gym teacher. The teacher, thinking Sue was just there to cause Carrie trouble, has her thrown out.
I Never Dreamed Someone Like You Could Love Someone Like Me. We dare you to listen to that song, or watch that scene and try not to smile or at least get watery eyes.
There must be a God. Could it be that he's heard me at last?
The brief "getting ready for prom" montage is a nice breather from all the drama and seriousness, as it shows Tommy and his buddies picking out tuxedos together and just being teenagers. The scene also provides some much needed comic relief to cap off what is yet to come.
The very sweet moment where Miss Collins gives Carrie a little pep talk about how magical her night must feel to her. While this conversation happens in the book, they make much more of a connection here, and Miss Collins hugs her at the end of it. She also pinches Tommy's cheeks in an adorable way.
Tommy also pretends to be jealous, and makes a joke about asking Carrie not to talk to other guys at the prom. Carrie has likely never had someone be jealous for her before, and her adorable little smile at the thought of it just sells the moment.
Miss Collins almost seems to view Carrie like a daughter. Had Margaret been arrested for child abuse, and Miss Collins adopted Carrie she might have actually turned out ok.
The character development of a girl in the class who gets no lines but is featured prominently in several scenes (according to the credits, named Cora Wilson). She starts off throwing tampons with everyone else but is seen looking guilty in the detentions. At the prom she is the one who presents Carrie with a bouquet when she's crowned queen and gives her a kiss on the cheek. She's seen applauding happily and then being horrified when the blood is poured and doesn't hesitate to try and help carry the dead or unconscious Tommy to safety.
The Rage: Carrie 2
Jesse telling Rachel he loves her while she sleeps after having sex. When Rachel realizes this she ends up saving his life from her own rampage, although it doesn't seem to save her.
Doubles as a Tear Jerker, but at the ending Jesse has a dream where Rachel visits him in his dorm and the two share a kiss - beforeshe turns to dust.
Jesse takes in Rachel's elderly dog. Who else on Earth can better understand each other's grief for Rachel's death than those two?
2002 film
The scene where Tommy asks Carrie to go with him. Tommy tells her that Sue finds her interesting and that she has "a lot more going on than most people realize", which is actually true. Tommy then makes a joke about the look on Chris's face when she finds out Carrie is going to the prom and she isn't - and Carrie smiles for the first time.
A minor one is when Carrie is preparing to make her dress for the prom. She looks so happy and excited.
And when Margaret tries to shame her, Carrie fires back that she believes Jesus will help her if she needs him. And that he loves everybody, including her.
Helen and Norma's sincere happiness for Carrie being there. Helen had previously appeared to be part of Chris's Girl Posse, but here she is genuinely nice to Carrie and acts as her friend for the night.
Helen gives Tina a Death Glare when she sarcastically wishes Carrie good luck, showing that she wasn't just pretending to be nice; she did view Carrie as a friend now.
And Helen runs onto the stage immediately after the blood is poured to see if Carrie is alright.
Norma Squees "you look so beautiful" as Carrie is welcomed onto the stage.
There's a simultaneously sweet and funny moment where Helen is stunned by Carrie's dress and blurts out "look at your ass!"
One scene has Helen and Sue decorating the gym together, while having a talk that shows that their friendship has endured, and that Helen (and implicitly others at the school) are already siding with Sue and Carrie over Chris, in addition to laughing off the Les Yay claims about Sue and Carrie during a time period where such talk could sometimes draw a more ugly reaction.
Sue asking Tommy to take Carrie to the prom. Kandyse McClure conveys just how much she wants Carrie to have her magical night.
"Just take her and hold her hand."
Unlike every other version of the character, this version of Chris actually shows redeeming qualities - she hesitates in pulling her prank when she sees how happy Carrie is and has to be bullied into it by Billy, and then later she screams at Billy to stop when he's trying to run over Carrie with his car. It's actually kind of a shame that she dies in this version of the story.
Miss Desjardin gives a speech about how high school isn't everything but recommends the ten year reunion, taking the time to note that the Alpha Bitches and Jerk Jocks will be past their prime - while some of the girls shamed for being fat will have grown into their own.
Miss Desjardin: "And all the really awkward people...
(Carrie momentarily looks worried)
Miss Desjardin: Turn out just fine.
(Carrie smiles)
When Carrie uses her Psychic Powers to force Margaret into the closet, she makes sure to say "Watch your fingers!" before closing the door, which makes it clear she doesn't really want to hurt her mother despite how horrible she is, and is just trying to stop Margaret from abusing her.
2013 film
Miss Desjardin takes the time to apologise for slapping Carrie in the showers. In the book, she secretly enjoyed it and said nothing afterwards, but she apologises for hitting her and says "I should have handled it better".
Sue likewise realises pretty quickly that Carrie doesn't know what's happening to her (in the previous two films, it's implied she didn't know and in the book she did and threw things anyway) and tries to make amends immediately by telling Miss Desjardin that Carrie doesn't realise.
Tommy actually calls the teacher an asshole in defense of Carrie. This time it's clear that everyone knew what he said, so he had no problem defending her in front of the class.
Carrie levitating Ms. Desjardin off the floor so she won't be electrocuted like the other students, sparing her life.
Carrie nearly kills Sue, but stops herself from killing Sue before she realizes she's pregnant, beginning to choke her saying "why shouldn't I hurt you? I've been hurting my whole life.", but then stops herself, releases Sue and breaks down crying. This makes the moment even more heartwarming, as she realizes that deliberately hurting someone else as she's been hurt all her life doesn't help anything, especially when her intended victim truly was trying to be nice to her.
Just before that, Sue, having personally witnessed the chaos and destruction, charged into Carrie's house to try and talk Carrie down and get her to safety. Especially when you consider that, for all Sue knew, Carrie was out to kill her too. She had no reason to think she would even make it out of that house alive.
That's canon. Sue is desperate to find Carrie, picks up mental images of her dragging herself down the road after killing her mother, realizes that Carrie might very well kill her as well and keeps right on following her.
The context that Carrie saved Tommy's daughter. Thanks to her, Tommy's lineage will be preserved.
Carrie attempts to kill Chris, but when she sees how terrified Chris looks, she actually snaps of her psychotic episode and stops. She is willing to spare her biggest bully. Sadly, she ends up killing her anyway in a move of self-defense when Chris takes advantage of the momentby trying to run her over again.
A strange one, but after using her powers to lock her mother in the closet, Carrie casually glances at the radio on her way out of the house, causing it to turn on. It's playing "Amazing Grace"; even in the midst of her teenage rebellion, Carrie took time make sure that her mother would be comfortable by letting her listen to her hymns.
Of course, the radio also conveniently served to drown out the noise of her mother banging against the door so that Tommy wouldn't hear any of it...Could also double as a Moment of Awesome in that she's giving her mother a taste of her own medicine.
Carrie decides looks up a video about telekinesis on YouTube and watches it in small screen, until a boy shows her how to watch it in full screen. That's also the second time we see that someone has been nice to her.
This version of the "getting ready for prom" montage is just as nice of a breather from all the drama and seriousness as the original, as it shows Tommy and his buddies picking out tuxedos together and just being teenagers (and of course, Ansel Elgort, well, being Ansel Elgort for the entire scene). Both versions of the scene also provide some much needed comic relief to cap off what is yet to come.
When the king and queen are announced, you can see the teachers applauding for Carrie. This includes Mr Uhlmann, who had been mean to Carrie in class. Perhaps he too felt bad about that, and was sincerely happy for Carrie to have her moment.
Carrie actually spares him in her rampage. He's helping Tina, and she throws a decoration at them to separate him from her. Tina is singled out for a drawn-out death but it seems Carrie felt the teacher didn't deserve it.
In a twisted way, what kick-starts the Black Prom in this film: Tommy's death. In the book and previous films, Tommy is struck by the bucket, but everyone is too busy laughing at Carrie to notice and Carrie herself is too distraught by the cruel prank. In this version, though? Carrie, utterly humiliated, tries to leave, Tommy calling after her, but when the bucket hits him and he falls, she immediately goes to his side and tries to revive him. And when she sees that he has died? All bets are off.
Miss Desjardin instantly rushes forward to help Carrie when the blood is poured. Sure she gets telekinetically thrown back, but it's the thought that counts.
An Even Evil Has Standards moment for Chris and Tina. Although laughing cruelly at the blood being poured, when the bucket hits Tommy, Tina stops laughing and shows similar shock to Miss Desjardin being thrown by Carrie. Chris too shows concern for Tommy and has to be dragged out of the room by Billy.
Twisted though she may be, Chris shows genuine sadness when she sees Billy has been killed too.
Although minor character Heather is part of the Girl Posse, she does get a Pet the Dog moment when Sue is hanging the decorations. Heather sees her feeling nauseous and asks if she's alright.
Stage musical
When they arrive at the prom, Carrie appears to be getting cold feet, at which point Tommy offers to take her someplace else and just hang out there. And considering everything that happened, one can't help but wonder what might've happened if she'd taken him up on that...
"You Shine". Tommy and Sue expressing their complete love for one another and making up for the fact that they won't be going to prom together.
Margaret is portrayed much more sympathetically, and as genuinely loving Carrie. While this doesn't excuse her behavior, and makes what ultimately happens much more tragic, it does lead to some sweet moments between mother and daughter. Margaret lovingly welcoming Carrie home after school in "Open Your Heart" is especially worthy of a smile.
unsorted
Tommy befriending Carrie, and Sue wanting to make up with her, although by the end Tommy is killed and Sue is mourning Carrie's death and probably traumatized by Carrie's rampage.
Pretty much all his scenes with Carrie. He's just so patient with her such as sitting with her in the car when she was nervous and teaching her how to dance. Moments before his death he can be seen reaching over to Carrie as if he's trying to comfort her.
Carrie: Why'd you want to?
Tommy: Because you liked my poem.
Which is another point in his favor - after reading her poem in class, the Jerkass English Teacher has a laugh at her expense and calls it "weird" and "creepy". Tommy immediately calls him on it before Sue asks him to take Carrie to Prom.
No matter what version, the scene with Carrie and Tommy dancing together is always downright adorable.
We're here, and I like it.
Miss Collins trying to show Carrie how beautiful she really is after Tommy asks her out to the prom.
Everyone treating Carrie like an equal and clapping when she wins prom queen. Doubles as a Tear Jerker when we know whats going to happen soon, but still heartwarming to see everyone happy for Carrie.
