Screenwriting : Worldbuilding and folklore by Robert Birloaga

Don't simplify them.

I think Western audiences would love to see exotic cultures and myths, because it's different and unique. Research what you want to show and show it as is.

It all comes down to set up. As long as you set up the stakes and relevant information, the audience can piece together the rest as you take them on the journey.

This is such an important question, and your awareness of the simplification risk already puts you ahead of many writers attempting cross-cultural storytelling.

The core challenge you've identified:

Western audiences often lack cultural context for non-Western folklore, creating pressure to explain, simplify, or domesticate stories in ways that strip their authentic power. The temptation is making everything easily digestible, but that often means losing exactly what makes these stories distinctive and meaningful.

Approaches that tend to work:

Trust your audience's intelligence. Viewers can handle unfamiliar cultural elements when presented with confidence. Shows like Pachinko and films like The Wailing succeed by refusing to over-explain their cultural contexts. Immersion often teaches more effectively than exposition.

Find universal emotional anchors without universalizing the specifics. The feelings driving folklore - fear, desire, community bonds, moral consequences - translate across cultures even when the specific supernatural entities don't. Let audiences connect emotionally while maintaining cultural specificity in the details.

Avoid the "Western guide character" trap. Don't create audience-surrogate characters who need everything explained to them. This device immediately signals you don't trust the material or your viewers.

Consult deeply, not superficially. If you're outside the culture you're adapting, meaningful collaboration with cultural insiders isn't just ethical - it makes the work better. They'll catch simplifications and misreadings you can't see from outside.

Consider what "adaptation" actually means for your project. Are you retelling a specific tale, or using folklore as inspiration for original stories? The latter often gives more creative freedom while respecting source material.

Eastern European and rural folklore actually has growing market interest, particularly in horror and fantasy genres. Properties like The Witcher (Polish folklore foundations) and interest in Slavic mythology demonstrate audience appetite for non-Western supernatural traditions. Your concern about "Western audiences" may be less limiting than you fear - global streaming has expanded what's commercially viable.

Your instinct to preserve complexity rather than simplify is exactly right. Audiences are increasingly sophisticated about global storytelling - trust both your material and your viewers.

Audiences suspend their disbelief in new, fantasy and previously unknown world’s if the story is executed well. There is no one formula to appease Western viewers. Geographic boundaries & old cultures can be shown visually over expletives. Novel to script, thoughts & feelings are replaced by dialogue & action. Characters “show” the rules of their world, instead of tell. Research is key but tell the history in your own unique way. Study different structure frameworks Eg The Hero’s journey, it covers folklore & its archetypes such as The Herald, Trickster & Sage. Bold, & memorable characters with a concept that rocks & good plot, makes modification unnecessary.

Western audience is quite the generalisation. I'm guessing you mean the mainstream western audience? It's important to remember that there are various demographics within that. At the end of the day, you should be writing what you are passionate about in the most passionate way. Chasing an audience never works.

I would have to hear the tale in English to figure that one out. Oh, and I'm an excellent Worldbuilder BTW

Relieve yourself of this burden. Just tell agood story. Your role in telling or shaping the myths is likely insignificant at best.

Worldbuilding is not a chore. The unique worlds that I have built inspire me. Make sure the world you've created is it's own character as much as the protagonist are and trust me it will be memorable.

Robert Birloaga One approach I’ve found helpful is shifting the location or framing to something more familiar to Western audiences while keeping the core folklore, themes, and character dynamics intact. That way, you’re not simplifying the myth, just giving the audience a bridge into it.