This Is Our Youth

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual content and substance use.

Dennis Ziegler, 21, sits in his mostly empty, semi-dilapidated Upper West Side apartment in 1982. Dennis lacks direction in his life. He has a competitive nature and a bullying but ultimately well-meaning demeanor. He watches an old movie on TV and thinks about little. Although the charm and social position of his high school days have finally begun to dim, Dennis is hardly aware of this.

Dennis’s friend Warren buzzes, and Dennis waits for him to buzz again before letting him upstairs. Dennis unlocks the door and lets Warren open it and immediately notices that Warren has a backpack and suitcase with him. Warren is 19 and known for getting himself into trouble; he has thoughts of becoming something, but no sense of how to start. 

Dennis immediately starts questioning why Warren is there and suspects that Warren wants pot, but Warren admits that he brought some of his own. Dennis demands to have it despite Warren declining and proceeds to roll and smoke it. Dennis wonders why Warren has a suitcase, and Warren admits his father forced him out of the house for always smoking pot.