Second, the negative irony: If you cling to your obsession, your ruthless pursuit will achieve your desire, then destroy you. WALL STREET; CASINO; THE WAR OF THE ROSES; STAR ’80; NASHVILLE; NETWORK; THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY?—these films are the Punitive Plot counterpart to the Redemption Plots above. In them the “down-ending” Counter-Idea becomes the Controlling Idea as protagonists remain steadfastly driven by their need to achieve fame or success, and never think to abandon it. At Story Climax the protagonists achieve their desire (positive), only to be destroyed by it (negative).
