She stands in a gallery surrounded by her own creations, a woman who has learned to live with herself.
Em Vale Tudo, a jornada de Heleninha Roitman não termina com um amor romântico, mas com algo mais raro e mais difícil: a reconciliação consigo mesma. Manipulada pela própria mãe, carregando por anos uma culpa que não era sua, a personagem percorre o caminho da destruição até encontrar, na sobriedade e na arte, uma forma de reexistir. É uma história sobre o peso das mentiras familiares e sobre o que sobra de uma pessoa quando essas mentiras finalmente desmoronam.
- Heleninha entra em um casamento armado pela mãe e vê a união desintegrar sob o peso do alcoolismo e da traição do marido com Raquel.
- Por anos, ela acredita ser responsável pela morte do irmão Leonardo e por um incêndio devastador — uma culpa fabricada e mantida deliberadamente por Odete.
- A verdade emerge pela voz de Ruth, funcionária da família, que revela que foi Odete quem dirigiu de forma imprudente e deixou cair o cigarro que causou o fogo.
- Liberta da culpa falsa, Heleninha encontra em William não um salvador romântico, mas um companheiro de recuperação que a acompanha às reuniões dos Alcoólicos Anônimos.
- Após um ano de sobriedade, ela inaugura uma exposição de arte — uma redenção silenciosa, sem glamour, inteiramente conquistada por ela mesma.
O remake de Vale Tudo, produzido pela Globo em celebração aos seus 60 anos, reserva para Heleninha Roitman — vivida por Paolla Oliveira — um destino que foge ao esperado. Seguindo os traços da versão original de 1988, a personagem se casa com Ivan, administrador da TCA interpretado por Renato Góes, em uma união arquitetada por sua mãe, Odete, em conluio com Maria de Fátima para afastá-lo de Raquel. O casamento, no entanto, não resiste: o alcoolismo de Heleninha corrói a relação por dentro, e a traição de Ivan — que retoma o caso com Raquel, agora empresária bem-sucedida — sela o fim.
Mas o verdadeiro ponto de virada é uma revelação que chega tarde demais para poupar anos de sofrimento. Heleninha sempre acreditou ser culpada pela morte do irmão Leonardo e por um incêndio que quase matou outro membro da família. Essa culpa alimentou sua dependência e moldou sua identidade mais funda. A verdade vem de Ruth, funcionária da família que finalmente quebra o silêncio: foi Odete quem, ao ser flagrada com um amante pelo filho Leonardo, pegou o volante em pânico e dirigiu de forma imprudente até o acidente fatal. Foi Odete quem, abalada, deixou cair um cigarro aceso que incendiou a casa. E foi Odete quem, fria e calculista, deixou a filha carregar essa mentira por anos.
Livrada da culpa que não era sua, Heleninha começa a reconstruir. Encontra em William não um grande amor romântico, mas uma presença constante e honesta: ele a acompanha às reuniões dos Alcoólicos Anônimos, oferecendo apoio sem salvação fácil. Um ano depois, sóbria, ela organiza uma exposição de suas obras de arte. A redenção é discreta, sem triunfo espetacular — ela não conquista um novo marido, mas reconquista a si mesma, de pé em uma galeria cercada pelas próprias criações.
The remake of Vale Tudo, Globo's celebration of its 60th anniversary, will chart a path for Heleninha Roitman that diverges sharply from the romantic resolution audiences might expect. Played by Paolla Oliveira in this new version, Heleninha's journey culminates not in a triumphant marriage but in a harder-won redemption: sobriety, artistic creation, and the slow work of rebuilding a life fractured by family secrets and her own demons.
Following the contours of the 1988 original, Heleninha will marry Ivan, the TCA administrator portrayed by Renato Góes. The union is engineered by her mother, Odete Roitman, who conspires with Maria de Fátima to sabotage Ivan's relationship with Raquel so that he might instead marry Heleninha. The scheme succeeds, but the marriage crumbles almost immediately. Heleninha's struggle with alcohol addiction corrodes the relationship from within, and Ivan's infidelity—a rekindled affair with Raquel, now a successful businesswoman—delivers the final blow. When Heleninha discovers the betrayal, the marriage ends.
But the real turning point comes earlier, in a revelation that strips away years of psychological torment. Late in the narrative, the truth emerges about two catastrophes that have haunted Heleninha: the death of her brother Leonardo and a devastating house fire. For years, Heleninha has believed herself responsible for both tragedies, a guilt that has fed her alcoholism and shaped her entire sense of self. The revelation comes through Ruth, the family's longtime employee, who finally breaks her silence.
Ruth recounts a day in Angra dos Reis when Heleninha, suspicious that her brother Marco Aurélio was meeting another woman, insisted on following him. Ruth accompanied her to an apartment building where the family owned two units. When they entered one apartment looking for Marco Aurélio, they found instead Odete with a young man—a friend of one of her sons. Leonardo, Heleninha's older brother, arrived and erupted in fury, determined to drive back to Angra and tell their father everything. In the chaos, Leonardo handed the wheel to Odete and sat in back, holding his distraught sister. Odete, nervous and distracted, drove recklessly. The accident was catastrophic. Leonardo was gravely injured and died before help could arrive.
The fire that followed was equally Odete's doing. Shaken and panicked at the house in Angra, she dropped a lit cigarette near a curtain. The flames spread. Heleninha, traumatized and disoriented, saw her brother's body and began screaming that she had killed him. Odete, calculating and cold, chose to let her daughter believe this lie for years. The guilt became Heleninha's inheritance, a weight that nearly destroyed her.
Once the truth surfaces, Heleninha begins to heal. She ends her marriage to Ivan and, crucially, finds support in an unexpected quarter: William, a man who helps her confront her alcoholism directly. He accompanies her to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, offering steady presence rather than romantic salvation. This is the real love story of Heleninha's ending—not the passionate union with a man, but the disciplined, daily work of recovery.
By the final chapter, Heleninha has been sober for a year. She organizes an exhibition of her artwork, reclaiming the identity of an artist that had been submerged beneath addiction and family trauma. The redemption is quiet, unglamorous, and entirely her own. She does not ride off into a sunset with a new husband. Instead, she stands in a gallery surrounded by her own creations, a woman who has learned to live with herself.
Citas Notables
Odete chose to let her daughter believe this lie for years. The guilt became Heleninha's inheritance, a weight that nearly destroyed her.— narrative account of Odete's deception
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
So Heleninha doesn't end up with Ivan, even though the whole middle section of the story is about them getting married?
Right. The marriage happens, but it's a trap disguised as a solution. Her mother orchestrates it to separate Ivan from Raquel, and it works—but only for a while. Heleninha's drinking tears the marriage apart from the inside, and then Ivan's affair with Raquel finishes it off.
That's brutal. But it sounds like the real story isn't about romance at all. It's about what she discovers about her mother.
Exactly. For years Heleninha has been carrying the guilt of killing her own brother and burning down a house. She's been drowning in it. Then Ruth, the old family employee, finally tells her the truth: her mother was driving when Leonardo died, and her mother started the fire. Heleninha wasn't responsible for any of it.
So the guilt was the real prison, not the marriage.
That's it. Once she knows the truth, she can actually begin to heal. And the healing doesn't come from a new man sweeping in to save her. It comes from William, who just shows up and helps her get to AA meetings. It's steady, unglamorous work.
And by the end she's been sober for a year and showing her art.
A year without drinking, and she's creating again. That's the redemption the story is actually about. Not a wedding. A woman who learned to live with herself.