Paris Hilton told Newsweek in a recent interview that a feeling of emptiness prompted her planned tour of Rwanda next month and that she’s making sure the trip is filmed so that we’ll know how hard she works. US Weekly points out that she didn’t say she wants cameras there so that the rest of us can see the hardships people are facing in the war-torn nation, she said that she wants it documented so that we’ll all be impressed by her level of commitment to her public image. It’s possible that statement was taken out of context, but it sure sounds like that’s what she said.

Paris will be roughing it in Rwanda for five days, and unlike her stint in jail she can bail out at any time without being forced to return, so I wonder if she’ll stick it out. She says she’ll eat candy bars if the food is not palatable, and that she’s “scared.” Her trip will be filmed by the head of the charity she’s representing, Playing for Good, and made into a documentary about celebrities working for charitable causes:

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the new face of Paris Hilton. Serious actress. Serious philanthropist—next month she’s going on a charity mission to Rwanda. Just plain serious. Seriously? As you may remember from the incessant news coverage, Hilton spent 23 days this summer in jail for violating her probation on a DUI charge. Like so many ex-cons before her, she says that she emerged a changed woman. She’s cut her hair and moved into a paparazzi-proof gated community. She’s cut back on the clubbing and even—ohmygod—changed her phone number. “There are a lot of bad people in L.A.,” she says. “Before, my life was about having fun, going to parties—it was a fantasy. But when I had time to reflect, I felt empty inside. I want to leave a mark on the world.” It’s easy to scoff, especially when Paris says things like “After being where I was for almost a month, I don’t complain about anything” when you’ve been listening to her complain about her itchy prosthetic nose. But give her credit.?Paris built a multimillion-dollar business on the perfumed aura of a party-crazy heir-head. If she ditches that persona, she’ll be slaughtering her own cash cow. Of course, that’s a big “if.”

First, she’ll have to survive Africa. She’ll be in Rwanda for five days, visiting schools and health-care clinics and bunking in decidedly un-Hilton-like accommodations. “I’m scared, yeah. I’ve heard it’s really dangerous,” she says. “I’ve never been on a trip like this before.” She says she’ll resort to eating candy bars if that’s what it takes to get her through any foreign-cuisine issues. She’ll be traveling with a little-known children’s charity called Playing for Good. “She’s using her celebrity and the cameras that follow her for the good of humanity,” says Scott Lazerson, the organization’s founder. Let’s not forget the good of Lazerson, and Hilton. Turns out that he’s filming the trip in hopes of selling it as a reality show called “The Philanthropist,” featuring various selfless celebrities who rescue the world’s poor. Hilton says she doesn’t think this sideshow undercuts her sincerity a bit. A camera already follows her everywhere, by her own arrangement. Hilton wants to use that footage to make a film about herself. “I love having everything documented,” she says. “It shows people what everyday life is like for me, how hard I work. There are a lot of misconceptions about me.”

[From Newsweek.com]

Newsweek notes that she’s the only member of the LohitneyParis triumvirate who has avoided excessive scandal recently, and her level of fame has decreased as a result. If she wants to stay in the spotlight she’s got to kick it up a notch and what better way to do that than to surround herself with needy war orphans?

I want Paris to go away, and she’s done a pretty good job of that lately. If she wants to increase her wealth to astronomic levels she’s got to keep up our interest in her milktoast image and baby voice, and she can only do that by pretending to care about others. She does care about how others can help her merchandising, and anything that keeps her face in the tabloids will do that it. It’s just a lot easier to flash your vag and get instant coverage than it is to take a trip to a third world nation for nearly a week. I bet Paris is pissed that Britney didn’t properly learn the art of crotch flashing from her, because she’s pretty much ruined the opportunity for attention-seeking starlets everywhere.