I don't believe the director wanted us to laugh at them. Actually, I don't believe the director knew what he was doing at all. The tone is inconsistent and no real message is brought across.

However, on more than one occasion, the film seemed to be attempting to humanize these individuals. One of the few great scenes in this film is when the individual charged with answering NAMBLAs voice mail is listening to the messages. The director could have chosen any message for us to listen to or he could have chosen not to include the scene at all. Instead we get a close up of the guys face as he listens to a rather long and vicious message left by a hater who threatens him with all manner of violence and attempts to demean him.

I don't think the film aimed to go in any particular direction, or else it aimed to go in many at once. The director sucked and I believe that you are giving him too much credit.