"No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, the ones I love will always be the ones who pay."
- The scene at the beginning of the film that is the Establishing Character Moment for pre-Spidey Peter. Despite being a totally normal and dorky guy, everyone but Mary Jane and Harry mocks and torments him in some fashion or another. It's to the point that his bus driver has a smarmy, smug smile of enjoyment of letting the poor guy run after the bus as long as he can get away with it. It shows that Peter really doesn't have much but his immediate family and two people looking out for him at all.
- Hearing Mary Jane's father screaming at her and her mother is pretty sad. The arguing between her parents doesn't help, either. Mary Jane's pain is palpable, and based on her and Peter's reactions, this happens on a regular basis.
- Twice, Mary Jane is on the verge of tears as she leaves her house after these arguments. Then when her friends and Flash show up, she puts on a smile each time and doesn't let on what's wrong. Despite being considered more popular than Peter, it's clear that in a way, Mary Jane is just as insecure and misunderstood as him, and doesn't really have many people in her corner either.
- It's even worse in the novelization; what kickstarted their second family spat was Mary Jane learning her father had arranged for Flash to take her out that night. When she and her mother protest, Philip harshly rebukes them and basically yells that settling down with a boy like Flash is her only worth, and she shouldn't bother coming back home otherwise. Mary Jane is furious and humiliated, but gives in before storming out. It's not only a distressing glimpse into what she endures at home and how despicable Philip Watson is, but, as Peter reflects on in the next chapter, puts everything about Mary Jane in a new perspective: she's striving for popularity and a rich boyfriend out of desperation to prove something to her father, and herself, and find happiness away from his cruelty, even as she's aware Flash is not much different. No wonder she has recurring relationship issues in the films.
- On a rewatch, many of Mary Jane's initial scenes are sobering when you wonder how much of her carefree cheerfulness is fake, and how much is genuine.
- Uncle Ben's death, definitely. Peter arrives to find his uncle lying on the sidewalk. He calls his name and Ben hears him ("Peter...?"). Peter tearfully says, "I'm here, Uncle Ben," but Ben is fading quick and can't even tell his nephew is there. With one last, desperate call out to Pete, Ben dies, leaving Peter to sob over his body.
- The Parting-Words Regret makes it even worse. Ben tried to impart a lesson, but Peter is too frustrated to listen. The look on Ben's face after Peter says his line is devastating.Ben: I don't mean to preach, and I know I'm not your father—
Peter: Then stop pretending to be!- At Peter's graduation, it's clear their last interaction is weighing on him amidst the celebration. That night at home, May finds him crying in his room, recalling Ben's wisdom and regretting not being able to share this milestone with the man who was a father to him in every sense of the word.Peter Parker: I can't help thinking about... the last thing I said to him. He tried to tell me something important, and I threw it in his face.
- At Peter's graduation, it's clear their last interaction is weighing on him amidst the celebration. That night at home, May finds him crying in his room, recalling Ben's wisdom and regretting not being able to share this milestone with the man who was a father to him in every sense of the word.
- It's even sadder when you consider what really happened in Spider-Man 3. Because Peter let the thief get away with the money, he caused Flint Marko to accidentally shoot Ben. Really, that adds more guilt to Peter's conscience, inadvertently making him responsible for his uncle's death.
- What also adds pain to it all is that Peter’s revenge on the mugger leads to the mugger’s death. And then it turned out he didn’t even kill Uncle Ben. When Peter shows up in the MCU for Spider-Man: No Way Home over a decade later, he makes it clear he’s still haunted by it.
- After the mugger dies, Peter just sits alone on a building, consumed with sorrow and unable to feel any satisfaction. When he finally returns home, he and May break down in each other's arms. No words are spoken, but it's heartwrenching all the same.
- Uncle Ben’s death becomes even sadder in the novelization. Peter first doesn’t realize the old man on the sidewalk is Uncle Ben, until he notices things such as his outfit and his facial features that look exactly like his uncle’s. Peter manages to cradle Uncle Ben before he dies, and then lets out a “howl like the damned”. Then when Peter hunts down the mugger, he first almost considers wanting the bullet that the mugger fired to hit him, thinking he deserved to be shot for not stopping him and so he could be with Uncle Ben.
- The Parting-Words Regret makes it even worse. Ben tried to impart a lesson, but Peter is too frustrated to listen. The look on Ben's face after Peter says his line is devastating.
- MJ and Flash’s breakup in the novelization, which reveals they had a blowup over her moving to the city to pursue acting instead of following him. While it was obvious Flash was an abysmal boyfriend to her, him confirming it by blatantly demeaning MJ is hard to read. Especially since it’s implied she was still hoping to salvage something of their relationship, but is forced to accept that her time with Flash throughout high school amounted to nothing positively real or tangible.
- Even sadder, what should’ve been a proud occasion and a cathartic moment for MJ is rendered moot because there’s no one to support her in this difficult time. After Flash leaves, she feels completely empty and alone as her classmates are celebrating their graduation with their families around her, while her parents didn’t even come to the ceremony, likely too occupied with their typical fights. MJ has taken the first steps in shedding the bad influences in her life, but it doesn’t feel rewarding – all she’s left with is the harsh truth of how lonely she truly is. When Harry finally checks on her afterwards, she promptly bursts into tears.
- Norman's reaction to being ousted from his company. While Norman's response to his firing is in no way justified, one can't help but feel upset when people he's known for dozens of years remove him from the company HE founded just to appease stockholders. Anybody who has ever been unjustly fired or laid off will know his pain.
- Norman's line, "YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I SACRIFICED!?" Considering that Norman's work was the prime reason he was so neglectful towards Harry, him realizing that it all wasn't worth it hits very hard.
- Norman arguing with his Goblin personality when he finds out that Peter Parker, Harry's best friend and admirer of Norman's accomplishments, is the secret identity of Spider-Man. Norman really doesn't want to kill him, yet the Goblin constantly taunts him so much with promise of power that he ends up going through with it. It's a heartbreaking scene and underscores just how conflicted Norman is with what he has done throughout the movie.
- The Goblin attacking Aunt May at her home while she's saying her nightly prayers, all in an effort get to Peter/Spider-Man, by attacking "his heart". Soon after, she's rushed to the hospital, hysteric and traumatized from being menaced by the villain. Just as Peter storms in, May, not aware of her nephew's presence, cries, "Those eyes! Those horrible yellow eyes!". Peter is appropriately horrified at the realization that Goblin knows who he is, and can attack anyone he cares about. Next on Gobby's hit list was Mary Jane.
- The scene on the bridge, with the Goblin holding Mary Jane and a cable car of children hostage:
- The kids' supervisor is as scared as they are but trying to keep them calm, all the while knowing that they could die at any moment.
- Spider-Man begging the Goblin to not drop anyone, and he's not snarking. It doesn't work. Then the Goblin attacks him while Spider-Man's holding the cable, and Spider-Man is doing all he can to hold on, slipping several times.
- When Norman dies. "Don't tell Harry."
- To clarify, he doesn't want his son to realize that his father had become a maniacal killer with an alternate personality born from an unstable augmentation formula. His last moments were spent begging Peter to keep it a secret.
- Right after Norman says his last words and dies, Peter can only look on with shock, before bowing his head. Even if he just avoided impalement by the Green Goblin's glider, he has realized that it came with one brutal cost. A father is indirectly dead due to his actions, leaving Harry completely alone.
- It's also a bit telling in that Norman knew he meant the world to Harry, despite how aloof he's been throughout the movie, to the point of even seeming preoccupied in Peter's accomplishments over his own son's. Before leaving for his final showdown with Spider-Man, Norman even promises to try and make amends to Harry. Now it'll never happen.
- An extended scene after Spider-Man leaves the deceased Norman in his house (reused for Harry's flashback in Spider-Man 3) shows Harry crying while cradling his father's body.
- Norman's funeral, particularly how bad Harry is taking it.
- It hurts even worse because Harry outright calls Peter the only family he still has — right after swearing Revenge on Spider-Man for seemingly killing his father. As Peter gives him a hug, his face is practically frozen in a state of guilt and disquieted horror at realizing that the man that's like a brother to him unknowingly wants his head on a pike and there's nothing he can do about it.
- The ending. Peter finally has what he's always wanted, the chance to be together with Mary Jane... and he has to reject her to keep her safe.
- With Mary Jane's role as the Damsel in Distress, it's easy to forget that her entire character arc in this film is also tragic. She seems on top of the world in high school, but it's all a front for how miserable she is with her current path; her father is an unloving, controlling Alcoholic Parent, her boyfriend only sees her as a piece of meat, and her social circle doesn't understand her. After she finally escapes her toxic home and school life, she works to fulfill her dream of acting professionally and seeks a better boyfriend in Harry. However, she's saddled with a minimum-wage job and living in squalor, struggles to be taken seriously amidst the bullying and sexual harassment (and a near-assault) she faces for her looks, and learns Harry is not the man she thought he was. The only people who treat her with actual affection, compassion, and respect are her mother, the Parkers, and Spider-Man. But when she opens her heart to Peter and declares her love for him, she's left heartbroken once again when he turns her down for reasons he can't reveal. At the end of the day, Mary Jane just wants to put her troubles behind her and make a full life for herself, but any Hope Spot she has is torn away, leaving her back at square one.
- To add insult to injury, the novelization reveals Mary Jane being rejected from a soap opera on account of needing acting lessons was completely untrue. In reality, she nailed her audition but was turned away by the casting director, Flash Thompson's aunt, as revenge for breaking up with him. It hits extra hard for anyone who faced such Nepotism in real life.
- Mary Jane's expression when overhearing Norman insulting her as a Gold Digger and Harry not standing up for her. She tried so hard to escape her past hardships and have a fresh start, yet is now realizing she's just entered another cycle of abuse like what she dealt with from her father and Flash. While she does right in breaking up with Harry, it's clear having to do so is very painful for her.
- Harry’s retort to MJ leaving the dinner is also upsetting. For all his talk and gestures, he proves he’s no different from the previous men in her life who used and hurt her.
- In the novelization, Peter finds MJ sobbing outside on the sidewalk over once again being thought of as if she’s not worth anything.
- While Mary Jane's burgeoning romance with Spider-Man is touching, it's sad when one lets it sink in that she falls in love with (from her viewpoint) a stranger in a mask because nearly everyone else she knows is indifferent at best or abusive at worst, only caring about her superficially. It gets worse when you consider that Spider-Man's memory is all she has left without Peter (until the sequel, thankfully).
- From the moment they’re introduced, Harry and Norman’s relationship sadly only seems to bring out the worst in each other: Norman is too consumed with his work to be there for his son and Harry always seems to come up short with his father despite his efforts. Then Norman starts favoring Peter at Harry’s expense, which is magnified after he transforms into the Green Goblin and becomes fixated on Spider-Man in his desire to find a son-figure he can relate to. Meanwhile, Harry’s continued efforts to prove himself worthy of his father’s love only pull him away from MJ, who he actually starts degrading to make himself look good, and especially Peter, who he comes to resent for getting everything Harry wanted. In the end, Norman seems to finally realize his folly and promises to be a better father to Harry, but is robbed of that chance after Goblin gets himself killed. As a result, Harry redirects his resentment towards Spider-Man, pushing him into a downward spiral.
"Peter... Don't tell Harry..."
