The 2007 film has its own page.
The 1988 film
- Because of Tracy's return in the 1988 movie, The Corny Collins Show also got integrated, which is karmic comeuppance for Arvin Hodgepile, the president of the channel where the show is aired who refuses to make Corny's show integrated. And because Amber refused to leave because of Tracy's comeback, the bomb on Velma's fake wig blows off and lands on Amber's head, which in turn leads to the Von Tussle parents getting arrested!
- Edna attempts to throttle Velma after she asks if Tracy's mulatto, which doubles as a racist remark against Tracy protesting for integration and an implication that Edna cheated on Wilbur.Velma: Can I ask you a personal question?Edna (as she's trying to get Tracy to calm down): No you can't!Velma: Is your daughter mulatto?Edna (giving Velma her full enraged attention): Why, YOU!!!!
The 2002 musical
- The fact that the black dancers were willing to march against the discrimination they were facing, KNOWING it would get them arrested. Also, the fact that Tracy was willing to give up her spot as a dancer just to support what she felt was right.
- All the heroes get one in the finale:
- Tracy giving Amber a musical beatdown.
- Link inviting Inez onstage and dancing with her. What makes it more awesome was that he risked his spot on the Corny Collins show to do it. (It's also implied that he did this to make up for not marching with Tracy and the other black dancers the other day.)
- More about Inez — It's amazing when she's dancing by herself. While it may not seem like much, take it into consideration that Inez is only about 12 or 13, and yet she manages to hold her own against dancers who're easily three to six years older than she is—and she manages to actually win the title of "Miss Teenage Hairspray."
- Not to mention she wins by a landslide despite Velma stuffing the ballot boxes in an attempt to get Amber to win.
- Edna getting onstage and performing. The fact that she was insecure at first and afraid of leaving her house because of her weight, but now she's willing to dance on national TV with millions of viewers watching — now that was AWESOME. "If you don't like the way I look, well I just don't give a damn!" indeed. Bonus points with Inez and Tracy joining her.
- The black dancers finally mixing with the whites at the end.
- In the stage show, even the Von Tussles get in on the act.
- Hell, the fact that Tracy, Maybelle, and her dancers staged such an elaborate coup in the first place (with some help from Corny Collins, no less).
- Jennifer Hudson's performance of I Know Where I've Been from NBC's live TV production. Many critics agree that this was the high point of the special and she pretty much stole the entire show.
- It’s subtle but the fact that Link doesn't tell Amber what kind of a person she is compared to Tracy in a superior manner just goes to show that he really is a gentlemen. Although he might have given her one in his Offscreen Moment of Awesome ("[My ring's] a little scuffed from Amber throwing it in my face when I told her I'd rather be with you.")
