Opiate Withdrawals: Question About Mimi From the Movie RENT?
Question by Cayla: Question about Mimi from the movie RENT?
Ok, so I know she was a heroin addict…but I’m still a little confused. The stage version makes everything a little more understanding but I still have questions. Like during “Without You” they show various scenes like where Mimi is getting drugs from The Man behind the back alley and Roger finds her and we don’t know what they are saying however. Which kind of makes me upset. And another scene during the song it shows Mimi shivering and sweating(a cold sweat?) over a bathtub and then it shows Roger carrying her back into his apartment and them talking again, which we cant hear. -_- But my question about that scene is if Mimi’s cold sweat(?) is due to drug with drawl or the drugs itself. I’ve been looking for these answers for a couple days without any luck. Could someone please further educate me on Mimi’s character in the movie RENT and perhaps tell me about Roger’s withdrawal from drugs(like did he just stay in his room the whole time and didn’t speak to anyone?) and HIV/Aids? I know it has been a long time since this movie came out but I’m absolutely in love with it and cannot get these questions out of my head. I’m from a very different generation that the characters within this movie. Thanks in advance!
Best answer:
Answer by kmcryer
I’m going to approach this in reverse. First, more about Mimi’s character… She’s a 19-year-old Latina character who dances at a place called the Cat Scratch Club. She’s a heroin addict, and that’s likely how she contracted HIV (from sharing needles). She used to have a thing going with Benny before he married Allison and moved to Connecticut. Then, after she and Roger break up, she starts an affair with Benny again, and I believe they are together during Angel’s funeral. Of course, Roger’s song rescues Mimi from death at the end and such.
Roger met a girl named April when he was younger, and she’s the one who introduced him to heroin. Again, they probably contracted it from sharing needles with others who were HIV positive. When she found out, she left a note that they have AIDS and then committed suicide by slitting her wrists in the bathtub. Mark doesn’t get into details about Roger’s withdrawal, just that he’s “back after half a year of withdrawal.” That implies to me that he went off to rehab or some place. Now, he has come back to New York and is moping around the apartment all the time because of his HIV-positive status, April’s death the year before, and lack of inspiration for writing music.
In most of those scenes you mentioned, I don’t think we really need to know what they’re saying. When Roger finds Mimi, he tries to discourage from doing the drugs, especially since he’s been there himself.
The sweating and agitation are early symptoms of opiate withdrawal, and the usually means that someone needs a fix. (Like when they first met and Roger sings, “I used to sweat,” and Mimi responds, “I got a cold.” That’s when she’s looking for her drug stash.)
When Roger carries Mimi back to his apartment, he’s probably scooping her up after one of her fixes since heroin knocks people out (at least from the movies I’ve seen). Again, he’s trying to reason with her and discourage her from using drugs.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
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