Heartwarming moments in Mean Girls.
- Janis and Damien rushing to comfort brokenhearted Cady after Regina takes Aaron back.
- Karen overall seems to be a good-hearted girl, aside from occasional moments of bitchiness (and despite her rather minimal intelligence).
- Even though they play girl politics with each other, glimpses of Karen and Gretchen's true friendship show through. At the Halloween party when Karen can't figure out how cousins work, Gretchen patiently explains things to her and gives a sympathetic "oh honey" where everyone else would have called her stupid and put her down. Likewise, when Regina calls Karen a slut, Gretchen's first instinct is to tell her rather than trash her behind her back.
- After the "Jingle Bell Rock" scene, Karen gratefully hugs Cady for saving the performance and says "that's the best it ever went".
- When Regina is sad about her break-up, Karen suggests Taco Bell to cheer her up. Cady even seems to feel sorry for her after Regina calls her "stupid" because of that post-breakup idea.
- Also notable that when they confront Regina about breaking a rule regarding more casual wardrobe (Regina couldn't fit into most of her clothes) and Regina countered that those rules are not real but her excuse for once raking Karen over the coals over a vest was because "that vest was disgusting" is when Gretchen loses her temper and tells Regina that she cannot sit with them. Also a Moment of Awesome.
- Karen is the only girl shown to give a sincere if a little clueless apology.
- Karen lovingly catching Gretchen in the trust circle after the latter's Backhanded Apology. Though, depending on how you view it, Karen may simply have been too dumb to realize she had been insulted too.
- In the commentary, Tina Fey notes how surprisingly moved she is by it.
- In the end scene Karen is seen near Cady's group of friends, implying they remain close or at least cordial. She also waves to Regina, who returns it and actually smiles at her, implying that there's no hard feelings between them either.
- It's easy to miss because the camera is focused on Regina, but after Gretchen gets hit by the ball in the Plastics' introductory scene Karen runs to her and appears to be checking if she's okay.
- Cady's Spring Fling speech. "Everyone looks like royalty tonight."
- The Musical turns this into the finale, "I See Stars." Cady's song reaches everyone
in what is also her Moment of Awesome.
- The Musical turns this into the finale, "I See Stars." Cady's song reaches everyone
- When Cady apologizes to Ms. Norbury for putting her in the burn book for selling drugs. Also, it may not be as much, but when Aaron Samuels tells Cady "welcome back, nerd." This shows that the others are seeing Cady progress from the plastic she used to be.
- Cady making up with Aaron, Janis, and Damien at the Spring Fling after her speech.
- Damien and Janis going to prom together as besties in identical purple tuxs. Theirs was the only friendship that never changed throughout the entire movie. It's a happy reminder that not all friendships are based on popularity.
- In a way, Regina getting her happy ending is oddly sweet. She learns to channel her rage into sports, and joins the lacrosse team. And since the lacrosse team isn't scared of her, they're actually her friends, not just using her for a social status or going along with what she says because she intimidates them. We see her scoring a goal in lacrosse, and the rest of the team dog-piling her, and at the end, we see her with her teammates, looking like she's genuinely happy. Her dose of Character Development did her good.
- It also implies she's on good terms with Cady too, as she gives a smile and a nod as she's walking past her in the end of the movie.
- Plus, she now has a way to maintain her weight properly, rather than eating diet bars.
- It is rather sweet to see Janis happy while kissing Kevin in the finale. When She Smiles indeed.
- In an odd, subtle way, Gretchen teasing Cady when she thinks Cady has a crush on Kevin is kind of sweet. The teasing doesn't come off as malicious or mean-spirited, and Gretchen doesn't actually seem to dislike the idea of them as a couple, and doesn't make fun of Cady for (allegedly) having a crush on such a loser.You love him! And he totally complimented you. That is so fetch!
- For the ten-year anniversary, Entertainment Weekly asked the four actresses who played the Plastics what they think their characters are doing now. All the answers are actually quite nice: Cady's working with girls at a school in Africa, Karen's running her own, offbeat business, Regina's on reality TV and probably doing quite well for herself, and Gretchen's running the Toaster Strudel empire her dad started, and got the guy after all.
- Janis doesn't even really care when she sees the page in the Burn Book that's about her, just snarkily saying, "Oh, that's original." But when she sees the page about Damien, who's visibly upset by it? She gets genuinely pissed.
- Look in the background of Regina watching the hallway brawl. A girl can be seen crying over what the Book said about her, while her friend hugs and comforts her.
- When Cady starts singing "Jingle Bell Rock" a capella to save the performance, Aaron's the first person in the audience to join in.
- The ending of "Where Do You Belong?" in the musical, where Janis and Damian offer to be Cady's friends.Hey, Cady, this is where you fit. Hey, Cady, this is where you sit!
- The whole number is sweet when you put it into context: after being rejected and unable to find people to eat with, Cady hides in the bathroom. Janis and Damian, upon finding her, promptly take her under their wing, and explain how the school's social ladder works. The entire song feels like an attempt at cheering her up — and it works!
- Damian comforting Cady:
So what if all the ducklings think you're ugly? It's because they've never seen a swan. - "Stupid With Love" is just adorable, as Cady falls head-over-heels for Aaron.I am stupid with love... but I can get it. Watch this girl self-educate. I learned math, so I can learn love! You wanna bet it, that I can get it? Just wait!
- Karen assuring Cady, after the Burn Book fall-out, that she will always be Cady's friend. Cady also assures Karen that she isn't dumb. While Karen isn't too smart, she does have a big heart.
- Aaron racing to save Cady's bag from the "robber" (Damian) is really cute. Like when they reach the room in the auditorium, he still yanks the purse back.
- During "I See Stars", the five main girl characters all have a moment together and Cady and Regina each take one of Gretchen's hands. Gretchen giddily presses their hands against her face as she finally receives the sincere kindness and validation she wanted from both of them.
- It's a small detail, but in Gretchen's final scene with the Asian clique, she is finally shown wearing the beloved white gold hoop earrings that her parents had bought for her, but which she had had to pretend to dislike as Regina had forbidden her to wear hoop earrings.
