"I created Buffy to be an icon, to be an emotional experience, to be loved in a way that other shows can't be loved. Because it's about adolescence, which is the most important thing people go through in their development, becoming an adult. And it mythologizes it in such a romantic way - it basically says "Everybody who made it through adolescence is a hero."
I dunno. Maybe it's my lack of real Buffy knowledge, but I just don't see it - there seems to be a little of this, Buffy's journey through this stranger-than-fiction-fictionalized town in which everyone is vaguely-but-not-really aware of the sinister underbelly, her trip through high school.
But Buffy's quest doesn't seem as universal as all that - she's the Slayer, she's a singular figure for this moment in history. The universality of Whedon's quote doesn't seem pressing.
As for the nature of what he's saying, without applying it to Buffy, I think it's fascinating. Vampires have traditionally been seen as sexual creatures, the conversion to vampirism as metaphor for losing virginity. And then, of course, there's the blood and all.
Powered characters themselves as a metaphor for adolescence goes way back - the X-Men were built on it, after all. Mutations manifest at puberty and the characters go from little kids to teenage superheroes. Heroes has a similar moment when powers erupt on to the scene, in a moment of stress or excitement or other adrenaline. But Heroes sucks, so maybe that's not the best example.
Final thought - I think I need to watch more Buffy.
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