Easily Forgiven / Film

Exploring the concept of people being Easily Forgiven for their mistakes and crimes in Films.

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Animated:

• The Amazing Maurice: Maurice admits that he had eaten Additives, one of the rats who became intelligent from eating the magic-imbued rubbish at the Unseen University, and became intelligent as a result. Dangerous Beans and the rest of the rats don't hold a grudge, in large part because Maurice sincerely regrets what he did.
• Arlo the Alligator Boy: Arlo immediately forgives his father Ansel for abandoning him as an infant for the sake of protecting his birdman identity.
• In The Book of Life, Xibalba caused the whole mess, but La Muerte easily forgave him. Justified that he honored his deal this time.
• Coco: After her husband supposedly walked away, Imelda's response is to ban all music in the household and erase any presence of him in their family which includes tearing away the ofrenda. Even in the afterlife, she rejects all apology attempts and she pretty much leaves him to rot for 96 years. And yet by the time the revelation about what really happened comes out, nobody (including Miguel, who previously resented her for trying to crush his dreams) in the family bothers to call her out on being a prideful, stubborn jackass, though granted, at that time the family are more focused to saving her imperiled husband while he blames himself for walking away on his family in the first place and at the end, she contributes a lot to saving his existence.
• Despicable Me: Dr. Nefario going behind Gru's back and calling Miss Hattie to collect the girls. Gru never gives him a What the Hell, Hero? and the girls blame Gru over Dr. Nefario.
• Frozen: Elsa gets forgiven rather easily by Anna and especially the townspeople of Arendelle as a whole.
  • Anna has been straight-up abandoned by her older sister for 13 years without any explanation, and denied comfort when their parents passed away. When Elsa flees Arendelle after her powers are revealed, Anna tries to approach her sister to get her return to the kingdom and undo the eternal winter she had brought to Arendelle, her response is to curse Anna's heart and summon Marshmallow to kick her and Kristoff out of her ice palace. Yet in spite of all this, Anna never holds anything against her, even when she has no idea whether something was an accident or what Elsa's motivations are, blaming herself more than anything. And when she sees Elsa about to die, she doesn't hesitate to sacrifice her life to stop Hans from killing Elsa. Indeed, Elsa is surprised as to how Anna would sacrifice everything for her and welcome her with open arms in spite of what she had done that would make most other siblings angry, bitter and resentful.
  • Despite the fact that she abandoned her kingdom and plunged it into an Endless Winter for 3 days that would surely cause some casualties, none of townspeople show some kind of grudge against Elsa and actually welcome their queen with open arms once she finally learns how to control her powers. It's not even established whether any of them are told the winter was an accident.
• How to Train Your Dragon franchise:
  • In How to Train Your Dragon 2, Hiccup's mother Valka was absent for 20 years, living in the dragon sanctuary. When Hiccup, and later Stoick, meet with her, their joy at being reunited with her overrides any resentment they may have felt over her disappearance.
  • Mind you, Hiccup forgave practically all of his tribe in the first movie rather easily, considering all the crap they've given to him for years.
  • The first two times Hiccup encounters Eret, the dragon hunter is working for Drago. Later they meet again after Eret's Heel–Face Turn, and Hiccup cheerily greets him with "Welcome aboard, dragon-rider!" Justified in that Hiccup prefers a peaceful solution to one of violence and is glad to have won Eret over to his way of thinking. Also Eret was riding with Astrid on the back of her dragon Stormfly, so Hiccup presumably trusted his girlfriend's judgement in this matter.
• In The Incredibles, the Incredible family easily befriend Mirage after she betrays Syndrome and helps them escape the island...despite the fact that she took part in the murders of all the other supers and was the one who got Mr. Incredible kidnapped in the first place. Granted, they were running on a clock to stop Syndrome and the Omnidroid and the government agent Bob is friends with later states that Syndrome's assets were frozen and his henchmen arrested, so Mirage most likely would still face jail time assuming she didn't cut a deal with authorities or ran off herself after helping.
• Lord Business, the Big Bad, was forgiven with open arms in The LEGO Movie despite nearly causing the end of the world. Possibly because Lord Business is based on the boy's father, and the boy had just reconciled with him in the real world concerning the same issue that led him to cast him as a villain.
• In the Vídeo Brinquedo film Little & Big Monsters. Near the climax of the film, the protagonist Dr. Crumb confesses to his niece Amanda that all the stories he told about her involving his many adventures fighting alien invasions were not true. Despite being lied to for pretty much all of her life, she still forgives him without being mad in the slightest.
• In The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, Melody easily forgives the children who laughed at her at her birthday party.
• In The Lion King, Nala hunts Pumbaa, and is only prevented from eating him by Simba showing up and fighting with her. When Simba and Nala recognize each other, they instantly forgive each other for the confrontation, and Simba introduces Timon and Pumbaa to Nala. Pumbaa is instantly friendly towards Nala (and vice-versa), but Timon has trouble getting over the fact that she just tried to eat his best friend. Everyone else blows Timon off.
  Timon: "Woah, woah, waitaminute! So Let Me Get This Straight... You know her, she knows you. She wants to eat him, and everybody's okay with this? ...DID I MISS SOMETHING?!"
• Fungus in Monsters, Inc. had been Randall's henchman, aiding him in his evil plot, yet at the end he is seen cheerfully working alongside the others, as if there had never been any bad feelings between them. Sully DID put him in the Scream Extractor, and it is implied often that Fungus was coerced into helping them (mostly out of his genuine fear towards Randall's abuse).
• Penny from DreamWorks' Mr. Peabody & Sherman was forgiven with open arms by the two despite causing the whole mess and being cruel towards Sherman. It really helped that Sherman had taken a liking to her. It would take some time, however, before Mr. Peabody accepted her, since he thought such a fun-loving girl could put Sherman into more trouble.
• The Nightmare Before Christmas:
  • Lock, Shock and Barrel receive no comeuppance for going against Jack's orders to keep Oogie Boogie involved.
  • Downplayed in regards to Santa Claus. He is rightfully angry at Jack for hijacking Christmas and unintentionally leaving him kidnapped and at Oogie Boogie's mercy and he does chew Jack out. But later, he calms down and brings a little Christmas snow to Halloween Town after he fixes Christmas. He even shouts "Happy Halloween" to them, conveying that there are no hard feelings. The audio epilogue reveals that he regularly visits Jack and Sally afterwards.
• In Peter Pan, Wendy holds no grudge against Tinker Bell despite the fact that she just tried to get her killed. In fact, right after Peter says that he is banishing Tink forever, Wendy gets him to reconsider.
• In Shark Tale, Oscar owes his boss, Sykes, money. But he doesn't have said money, and blows his chance to get out of the debt due to his own stupidity (by betting the cash on a race-seahorse, only for said seahorse to literally trip the finish line, thus losing the race and costing all the money Oscar bet). Thus, Sykes proceeds to have him tortured by his jellyfish henchmen. But when the rest of the reef assumes that Oscar is a heroic "Sharkslayer" and he becomes famous, he's totally willing to let Sykes profit off his image.
• In Sing, Johnny's secret passion for singing inadvertently leads to his father and his entire gang being arrested and imprisoned in the middle of a heist, and his father angrily shuns for it afterwards. However, Marcus later has a change of heart, after he sees Johnny performing on TV and realizes singing really is his true calling. Regretting the hurtful things he said to him before, he breaks out of prison to apologize and reconcile with his son. When the two reunite, Marcus tells him he's proud of him, before embracing him tightly. A surprised Johnny pauses for a moment, realizing that these words are genuine, and he returns the embrace, showing that he forgives his father.
• Sheila Brokflovski from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut caused World War 3 over a movie, caused Canadian genocide, and gunning down Terrence and Phillip even after Kyle tried to reason with her. Everyone instantaneously forgave all her trouble for her crimes of humanity after apologizing to her son. Although she did show remorse after nearly causing the end of the world.
• In The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, SpongeBob seems to take the whole town turning against him, his best friend ratting him out, and everybody trying to sacrifice him pretty well by the end of the film.
• Strange Magic: Even though the Imp steals the Love Potion and ends up love potioning half the forest, he's forgiven the moment after the elves manage to steal back the potion from him.
• Twitch and the rest of Lotso's minions in Toy Story 3 were pretty much friends again despite what they did to the rest of the toys.
• Trolls World Tour: Despite everything the Rock Trolls did, they seem to be forgiven by the end of the film.
• Turning Red:
  • Mei doesn't seem to harbor any hard feelings towards Tyler when she sees him at the 4*Town concert; she and her friends welcome him with open arms. Likewise, Tyler is no longer upset at Mei for tackling him in her panda form and terrifying him at his birthday party.
  • Mei's friends, particularly Miriam, give her the cold shoulder at first when she was unable to stand up for them while Ming blamed them for her schemes. It's then revealed that Miriam had been lovingly caring for Mei's Tamagotchi-like virtual pet the whole time, a sign that they are still concerned for her predicament.
  • Ming's pandemonium at the SkyDome caused millions in damages to the stadium and surrounding infrastructure. Furthermore, thousands of civilian lives were at risk in the chaos, including the highly publicized appearance of 4*Town. One would figure that Ming would be bombarded with lawsuits or jail time by the Toronto community and celebrities, affecting her tourist attraction job. Yet, in the aftermath, the community has brushed off any ill-will towards her and visits her temple as usual. Mostly, as she still has to pay back the large sum of damages through her business earnings. It's unknown if she's also banned from the stadium or not.
  • Mei herself forgives Ming for attacking her and trying to take her by force in her kaiju panda form, and the two are on better terms by the end of the movie.
• Wreck-It Ralph: Double subverted at the end when Vanellope Von Schweetz takes her rightful place as princess of Sugar Rush, and all the other racers who teased, taunted and made fun of her grovel for forgiveness. Vanellope, in a voice that's equal parts sweetness and cynicism, first refers to herself as their "merciful princess," suggesting she's about to pardon them, only to promptly order them to be executed. She's just kidding though — she just wants to see the others freak out in a panic.

Live-Action:

• 102 Dalmatians: In the end, Allonzo isn't imprisoned, there is no sign of him being on probation and the heroes are friendly to him.
• All My Friends Hate Me: Played for sureality. In the end, after having a mental breakdown in front of all his friends and violently attacking Harry, Pete asks the stone-faced Sonia if she'd still consider marrying him, and she gives him a flat no. And then she says she's only kidding, and of course she'll marry him. It's not clear whether this even happens.
• In the 1982 film of Annie, Miss Hannigan doesn't go to jail for her part in the kidnapping, if not for the way she runs the orphanage. It seems that trying to stop her brother from (allegedly) killing Annie is enough to make her welcome at the Warbucks festivities, even while drunk.
• The Art of War III: over the course of the direct-to-video film, Neil Shaw (rapper Treach, stepping in for Wesley Snipes), a special operative working for the U.N., commits several massive screw-ups, including killing several North Korean rogue operatives he was supposed to be just watching^note (who later turn out to South Korean special agents) and helping lead the Big Bad right to the U.N. Secretary General, resulting in more high-profile death. After this collection of cock-ups that should've gotten him instantly fired (if his bosses felt like being kind), the Sec. General (who knew the whole story) personally tells Shaw "We need you." That entire thing doesn't happen without Shaw's actions and she acts like he saved the day.
• In Bad Lieutenant, the rape of a nun shocks even the hardened eponymous character. He is prevented from exacting brutal revenge on the perpetrators when the nun herself forgives them. In his only redeeming action of the film, he instead puts them on a bus out of town.
• In Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Mike attempts to rape Lesley during a preview of the show in front of the cast, crew, and audience. Only two people call him out on this and all is forgiven by the next day.
• Cinderella (2015): Anastasia and Drisella apologize to Cinderella in the end, who gives them a forgiving smile in reply. Granted, they hadn't been all that bad to her in this version compared to others. She also forgives Lady Tremaine, who was quite cruel, though she doesn't apologize in the least. However, Ella's just that kind, since her mother instructed her to be. Nonetheless, it's made clear she never had more contact with any of them, and they left the kingdom.
• In The Dark Knight Rises, Selina Kyle steals Bruce Wayne's car and his mother's pearls, sells his fingerprints to John Daggett (who uses them to bankrupt him), and tricks him into fighting Bane, who breaks his back. Despite all this Bruce finds reason to trust her, even after Selina flat out tells him that he has no reason to whatsoever.
• Descendants:
  • Ben doesn't hold it against Mal for using a love potion on him.
  • In the third film, Audrey is forgiven and gets no punishment for what she did, despite there are Disney villains who committed lesser crimes, and been banished. Even Hades lampshades the fact that Audrey is treated with indulgence because she is an Auradon citizen. Of course, considering that Mal and Ben have wronged her by not once considering how she may have felt about having her boyfriend and future title taken from her (Mal even used magic to steal Ben from her, initially), they may have felt they owed it to her, and Audrey expressed remorse for her actions.
• Ever After has this with the band of highwaymen who are introduced when they find Prince Henry lost on the road and proceed to beat and attempt to rob him. When their leader teases Danielle by telling her that she can leave in peace and take with her whatever she can carry, he's so amused by her ability to carry Henry himself on her back that he lets them stay in their camp for the night. The fact that they're still criminals who attacked the crown prince and have been making a living by attacking travelers on the road is quickly forgotten, and Henry later invites them to a masquerade ball. To rub elbows with some of the same people they've been mugging.
• In From Dusk Till Dawn, Seth Gecko's reaction to his brother having raped and murdered their hostage while he was gone quickly fades from disgusted to 'don't do that again' and then hugs him and forgives him... sort of justified because we're apparently supposed to be shocked at the mildness of his reaction. It is also used to show Seth's blind love for his brother, as well as the fact that Seth is likewise a psychopath, if not a rapist.
• In Gourmet Detective Roux The Day, an investigation into the theft of a rare chef's book reveals that the book people have been looking for is a fake copy of the original, created by an old woman and a forger after they found the original book. When questioned, the old woman explains that she was once in love with the book's original owner, but when she found the book she learnt that his family restaurant had been illegally using absinthe as an ingredient for years, paying an old contact of hers to create the fake book with edited recipes to protect the reputation of her lover's family. While the fake book has resulted in at least two murders as people tried to recover it, the investigators ultimately let the woman and the forger off with a warning as the forged book was created with good intentions and they aren't responsible for any of the subsequent murders.
• Alan in The Hangover series, especially in the second one. While he can claim ignorance the first time, he flat-out lied to them for most of the second movie regarding his actions. The guys, especially Stu, are pissed, but all it takes is a good wedding gift and his actions are completely forgiven.
• In High School Musical, Troy and Gabriella's 'friends' goad him into saying hurtful things about her to make them break up. The instant they explain their plot, Troy and Gabriella forgive them.
• This happens in the movie version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, but with more detail than in the book. The mayor is a little reluctant to forgive, but the chief of police is willing to accept his apology (and this is after they explained the whole message to him that the story was trying to convey).
  The Grinch: I am the Grinch that stole Christmas... and I'm sorry. *beat* Aren't you going to cuff me? Put me in a choke hold? Blind me with pepper spray?
  Mayor Augustus Maywho: You heard him, Officer. He admitted it. I'd go with the pepper spray.
  Officer Wholihan: Yes, I heard him all right. He said he was sorry.
• Hugh/Jeff in It Follows has sex with protagonist Jay. In doing so, he imparts a magical curse to her so that she is chased by an invisible entity that wants to kill her. He previously drugged and kidnapped her to show her the entity. But when Jay and her friends visit him, they forgive him after he explains that the entity had also been attached to him by someone.
• In Jupiter Ascending, Caine quickly forgives Stinger for handing him and Jupiter over to Titus. Justified, as Stinger also alerted the authorities about the situation and only did it to save his ailing daughter. Stinger is also one of the few people skilled enough to help Caine save Jupiter, and he also makes clear there are no other potential reasons he might turn on Caine a second time.
• In Labyrinth, Hoggle confesses to Sarah that Jareth told him to give her the peach, and then tells her he doesn't deserve to be forgiven. She still does.
• In Maleficent, Aurora quickly forgives Maleficent for having cursed her to die on her Dangerous 16th Birthday when the latter has a Heel–Face Turn and undoes the curse.
• Mandalay: Invoked but ultimately averted. After selling his girlfriend to Sex Slavery and later attempting to frame her for his own murder, Tony expects Tanya to return to him. Oh, and to be the hostess of a brothel he intends to open.
• Marvel Cinematic Universe:
  • In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Stark and Banner leave the team in guilt, while Wanda, an ex-Hydra agent who mind-raped Stark and Banner into building Ultron and later banner into Hulking Out, isn't reallly blamed by anyone, for anything, to any degree. Instead, she gets enlisted into the Avengers.
  • Thor: Ragnarok: Played for Laughs in the Show Within a Show play at the start of the movie. It re-enacts Thor and Loki's tearful goodbye from Thor: The Dark World, except here Thor is a maudlin wreck who cheerfully brushes off Loki's crimes. Word of God is that Loki wrote the play himself.
    Loki Actor: I'm sorry I tried to rule Earth.
    Thor Actor: [sobbing] They'd be lucky to have you!
    Loki Actor: Sorry about that thing with the Tesseract. I just couldn't help myself.
    Thor Actor: I know.
    Loki Actor: I'm a trickster!
    Thor Actor: [smiles proudly] So mischievous!
• Mouth to Mouth: Sherry and Nancy constantly screw each other over, yet never hold grudges.
• In Muppets Most Wanted, this is downplayed. Kermit has his identity stolen by a criminal frog named Constantine. Despite the fact that Constantine doesn't act or sound anything like Kermit, none of the Muppets aside from Animal and eventually Walter notice, and thus Constantine leads the Muppets while Kermit is stuck in a Russian gulag for (according to the extended version) months. When Walter and Fozzie find out what's going on and along with Animal break Kermit out of the gulag, Kermit calls them out for not noticing that he'd had his identity stolen like Animal did, but he still forgives them and the rest of the Muppets pretty quickly.
• In the threequel of Night at the Museum, it is revealed that Larry not only forgave the three villains of the first film but he also helped ensure their early release.
• Okja: After Jay finds out that K intentionally mistranslated Mija's refusal to consent to Jay's plan, Jay beats the stuffing out of K and declares him to no longer be a member of the ALF. Jay forgives K when the latter rescues him and Mija from being beaten and arrested at the best superpig contest.
• Prospect: Cee pretty easily gets over the fact that Ezra murdered her dad, making a deal with him to get the gems and also not abandoning him later when he urges her to after he's been wounded. At the end of the film it's implied they'll even stay as partners.
• The Private Eyes: Jock is a faithful servant to Lord Morley even though Morley had his tongue cut out when they were in the army together.
• The Room (2003): Mark tries to murder Peter by shoving him off the roof after Peter (correctly) accuses him of sleeping with Lisa, but apologizes and is instantly forgiven.
• The Sisterhood of Night: Mary forgives Emily very easily at the end when she admits her accusations were lies, and even lets her into the Sisterhood.
• In Texas Chainsaw 3D Heather completely and instantly forgives Leatherface for killing all her friends and trying to murder her all because she finds out that they are cousins. The film ends with her performing a Face–Heel Turn and deciding to spend the rest of her life on the run from the law with him, and she never ONCE brings up the fact that he murdered her friends to him.
• In Top Gun while Iceman did apologize for what happened to Goose, Maverick seems awfully willing to forgive a guy whose Glory Hounding result in an accident that killed his best friend. Lampshaded in the How It Should Have Ended spoof, where Maverick punches out Iceman after the climatic battle because "My real best friend is dead because of you!"
• At the end of Youth in Revolt Sheeni forgives Nick and agrees to wait for him while he's in juvie. After he got her expelled from the school she had always wanted to attend by having a girl drug her so she'd fall asleep in class.

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