Lupe & JuanDi from the Block is a mock music video that explores two main themes: the hyper-commercialization and commodification of religious icons, on the one hand, and the “whitening” of Latinos when they cross over into mainstream pop culture, on the other. We worked with two main figures to create a parodic intervention around these themes: La Virgen de Guadalupe, Patrona de México, and "el indio" Juan Diego, who has recently been canonized by the Vatican. We used La Virgen de Guadalupe to comment on the commodification of religion, as we find her image everywhere: on t-shirts, designer jeans, postcards, stickers, tattoos, handbags, towels, even stick-shifts for cars, you name it; she is the Frida Kahlo of pop religiosity, the cool hipster-friendly Latina virgen superstar. Juan Diego, the indígena to whom this Virgen first appeared, has now also made it to sainthood, but with a major make-over: he has been whitened in the Vatican’s official image, which erases his indigenous traits and makes him look like a Spaniard. This reminds us of the almost-necessary (or so it seems) whitening of Latina pop stars when they “make it” in the music industry, as is the case with blonde-ified Shakira, Christina Aguilera, and even J-Lo, not to mention other older, "closet" Latinas such as Rita Hayworth and Raquel Welch.