Q. How do you think the direction of these cars is being used to support visual narrative?

A. This is a story telling device used frequently in moving images. Our intuitive understanding of the direction of these cars comes from the way we read: from left to right. We, therefore, understand that the green car (driven by Steve McQueen) is going away from something and the car below it (driven by Thelma and Louise) is going toward something. The image of Steve McQueen in the green car is taken from the film Bullitt which includes a highly complex car chase (one of the best on film). Initially McQueen is followed by some bad guys in another car but through very clever driving he shifts the scene and begins to chase the car that was following him. The direction of the cars helps us understand the complex action and changing dynamics. Although Thelma and Louise are driving off a cliff they are also going toward something – their metaphoric “freedom”.

Annie Leibovitz may have used this device in her photograph of Queen Elizabeth. In this late-life portrait, the Queen looks to the left which is a subtle way of indicating that she is looking into the past and not the future. She is, based on our intuitive understanding of direction, reviewing something, not looking toward something.

So then, why is the car in this commercial for Viagra going to the left instead of the right? Probably because this medication promises to take middle-aged men with ED back to a time when their sexual performance was at its peak.