Tear Jerker / The Perks of Being a Wallflower

• The Wham Line when Charlie in the book remembers what Aunt Helen did to him. Beforehand, he didn't know why he got such a feeling of dread when Sam started touching his leg sexually, and the dream reawakens this memory.
  "My brother and sister and I were watching television with Aunt Helen. Everything was in slow motion. The sound was thick. And she was doing what Sam was doing."
• Just the fact Candace is the last person Charlie calls before deciding to take his own life speaks volumes. With his friends gone, he turns to his older sister, who is revealed to have been used as an excuse by Aunt Helen to keep Charlie quiet as she molested him.
• After Brad's goons beat up Patrick and Charlie intervenes, Brad quietly approaches Charlie in the principal's office and softly thanks him for doing what he did before leaving, revealing how torn up he is. While it doesn't excuse his actions, it still stings to know how bad he feels.
• Patrick's breakdown in Charlie's arms, right after the aforementioned fight.
• Charlie's anguished call to Candace, where he flatly asks if he's responsible for his aunt's passing.
• In the book, the poem 'To Santa Claus And Little Sisters'.
• Sam revealing that her first kiss was with her dad's boss when she was eleven. Especially in the film, where she's smiling but in tears as she explains this, trying not to show how much this eats at her. She then kisses Charlie, so they can be sure the first person that kisses him really loves him. And she does.
  • Even the heartwarming kiss can be bittersweet in the sense that Sam had that chance at a first kiss with someone she loves stolen from her, and she doesn't want Charlie to experience that.
• Candace's anguished, "Charlie!" before he hangs up the phone in the film, fully aware that her brother might die minutes later.
• Charlie's overall meltdown in the movie after reflecting on the trauma of what Helen did to him, right down to him crying and repeating to himself "Stop crying".
• In the book, Charlie has a sex dream about Sam. He wakes up feeling horrible, even though it was a good dream, because he doesn't like that he saw Sam naked without her permission.
• Charlie's father was abused as a child and made a promise to himself never to do the same to his children. In an argument when Charlie was much younger, his father did hit him and was horrified; apologising immediately and saying that he'd made a promise to himself and he'd just broken it.
• Although Candace makes Charlie promise not to tell when her boyfriend hits her, he mentions it to his teacher, and this leads to both sets of parents being told. When Charlie's father comes back from speaking with the boyfriend's parents, Charlie is full of questions about what the boy's Freudian Excuse might be. His father sadly responds:
  "Not everyone has a sob story, Charlie, and even if they do, it's no excuse."
• In a single sentence, Charlie's teacher sums up why so many good and caring people end up in relationships with people who treat them badly. Even sadder when you realize Charlie's thinking about his sister and her abusive boyfriend.
  "We accept the love we think we deserve."