Avatar's Aesthetics

The world of Pandora in Avatar has been widely praised as being gorgeous and downright spectacular at night. One friend of mine noted that the forest was silent at night, and had beautiful lights everywhere. After thinking for a while, I realized that the lights of the forest reminded me of the city.

I find it curious that I do not hear much about the lush foliage of the Pandora jungle, or how strange the plants are in the daytime. Instead, the comments were about the nice light show at night. Interestingly enough, we have a similar light show at night: the city lights. Of course, the city lights seem strangely less endearing. Perhaps it is the strange union of city and jungle that so fascinates people?

Yet it is also unusual in that the jungle is also remarkably still, as my friend noted. There seems to be virtually no insect life, nor any other sounds of life. If nothing, that makes me think of an artificial wilderness. How fitting, then...having a jungle married to a city, with virtually no other insect life apart from the human-equivalents: the Na'Vi.