It’s en vouge for hosts to add a quip or two about self-praise during awards shows. Emmys host Jimmy Kimmel said something like “let’s do something actors never do enough of: congratulate ourselves.” Yeah, I’m grossly paraphrasing that joke, but, like I said, it’s been done a lot lately.

The irony of the joke works, of course, and that’s why we keep hearing it. When there’s a war on and people are out of work, it seems a little excessive to throw a big, televised party like the Emmys. Maybe Kimmel’s little jab assuages some of their guilt, but Hollywood goes ahead with awards shows anyways.

And that brings me to my point: it’s pretty great to be praised by your peers. Everyone loves it and deserves it once in awhile. The question is, what will you do with it? Actors like Melissa McCarthy and Jesse Tyler Ferguson use the spotlight to show all the positive social change that TV can represent, and that’s a good thing.