Quote 1
Then the screen would light up, and I'd move right on in them pictures. White men taking such good care of they women, and they all dressed up in big clean houses with bathtubs right in the same room with the toilet. Them pictures gave me a lot of pleasure, but it made coming home hard, and looking at Cholly hard. (3.7.23)
Pauline constantly compares her life as an African-American woman with the lives of the white women she sees onscreen. Movies have the ability to show us other worlds and create feelings (in this case, envy) that may not have existed otherwise.
Quote 2
Then the screen would light up, and I'd move right on in them pictures. White men taking such good care of they women, and they all dressed up in big clean houses with bathtubs right in the same room with the toilet. Them pictures gave me a lot of pleasure, but it made coming home hard, and looking at Cholly hard. (3.7.23)
Pauline envies the lives of white people, as seen at the movies.
Quote 3
Pauline felt uncomfortable with the few black women she met. They were amused by her because she did not straighten her hair....Their goading glances and private snickers at her way of talking (saying "chil'ren") and dressing developed in her a desire for new clothes. (3.7.18)
Pauline's jealousy is aroused by other black women judging her. Like her daughter, Pauline believes that if she alters her appearance people will treat her differently.