system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Avatar: The Last Airbender] Why did the Fire Nation’s Ember Island Players portray their enemies like that?

Yeah, they make everyone look incompetent and foolish, but they’re also portrayed as goofy and likable, and a few moments (like Yue leaving for the moon) are played with relative sincerity as well as humor.

Wouldn’t it be better propaganda to make the Gang and their allies look evil?
gpt
From their perspective, the Gaang is already evil and that doesn't need to be explained. We're basically watching the Fire Nation version of Mitchell & Webb's "Are We The Baddies" sketch or Mel Brooks' assorted send-ups of the Nazi Party. They're mocking the enemies of the nation and crowing their inevitable defeat, but they're not looking to make atrocity porn, or Schindler's List. They need to do something with these characters other than have them eat babies and kill innocent soldiers.

Further, the Players don't seem to be an official propaganda organ of the Fire Nation. There's likely a censor making sure they don't go too far off the rails, but they aren't being dictated the entire script (note how Sokka's Player is able to ad-lib a bit using the real Sokka's notes), and are making a production they believe the people will want to see. And what they think people want to see (and based on the loaded house, they're right) is a chance to have a bit of catharsis by laughing at the largest threat to their status quo and then cheering as they fail miserably at the 1 yard line.