Jackson Lennon is an Irish YouTuber, filmmaker and actor.
He first joined YouTube in 2016 initially under the channel name It's Alfie at the age of fifteen. As a transgender man, videos were initially a mixture of Slice of Life content and documenting his transition - as well as attempting to debunk a lot of myths surrounding trans people. The channel was renamed Jackson Miloh and eventually Jack's Journey.
In 2020 he announced he was discontinuing his main channel due to dissatisfaction with being pigeonholed into posting only LGBTQ-related content, but returned after a few months. In between, he created a separate channel under Jaylen
for more filmmaking content. The main channel can be found here.
His brother Jordan, who appears in many of his videos, is also an actor and filmmaker - and the two created The Nutters together. But as you can see on the Jaylen channel, they've gone onto bigger and better things.
Tropes associated with his work:
- Artist Disillusionment: He grew dissatisfied with his channel in 2020, feeling he got into a bad habit of posting mediocre content just for views and likes - and rebranding as Jaylen was a way to transcend that. He did of course return after having a realisation that he could still do both.
- Beware the Nice Ones: A nice and caring guy in general, he will flip out if he sees someone being mistreated.
- Coming-Out Story: The subject of a couple of videos, and some even have advice on how best to come out.
- Creator Cameo:
- In The Nutters, he cameos as a party guest who's initially refused in, but then produces a can and gets allowed to come.
- Jordan returns the favor in his film Listen, cameo'ing as the protagonist's friend on a video call.
- Cute Kitten: Devotes one vlog to introducing an adorable black kitten named Luna.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: He initially went by 'Alfie' before going by Jackson.
- Gag Haircut: He shaved his head like many others during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Instagram he jokingly compared it to Britney Spears's infamous headshave - "it's pronounced 'breakdown', not lockdown."
- Important Haircut: Has a video detailing how this can be a big step for FTM transitions. After his haircut, he recalls feeling validated when passersby referred to him with male pronouns.
- Keet: Very energetic, enthusiastic and with a childlike passion for the world.
- Nice Guy: Comes across as a very empathic and caring person in general.
- Noble Male, Roguish Male: When paired with Jordan. Jackson is the well-spoken Noble, while Jordan is the slightly rougher Roguish. Notably Jordan has a thicker North Dublin accent.
- Old Shame:
- The web series Teen Life, which was an attempt at a hard-hitting Teen Drama tackling issues a la 13 Reasons Why - but quickly got destroyed by critics for its laughably bad writing and tone more akin to a PSA than an actual story. Not helping matters was the director withholding pay from a lot of talent and crew members, meaning the experience was miserable for everyone.
- On the Jack's Journey channel, he has a video in which he watches old vlogs made before his transition. He cringes at his pre-transition self insisting "I'm a girl", the overexposed lighting in the video and general behavior.
"I don't know why I felt I had to do the ghetto hands."- When interviewed for the Actors' Life Podcast, he cringed when he was reminded that he used to call his fans 'the Jack Hammer Squad'.
- One-Steve Limit:
- His first video on the Jaylen channel has a clarification that he's not related to John Lennon. Probably.
- And confusingly enough, his media content is branded Jaylen. Jordan's is branded Jay-El.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: He's called Jack by most people who know him.
- The Pollyanna: A very positive and friendly Nice Guy in general.
- Queer Character, Queer Actor: He plays a trans man in Teen Life and his Boxed In. In the latter, his character AJ is in a relationship with a man, and Jackson is bisexual as well.
- Real-Life Relative: He and Jordan collaborate on numerous projects, most notably The Nutters. The web series Teen Life was the only time the two ever acted together in something.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: He jokingly plays this up in dual videos with Jordan, who plays the latter.
- Shirtless Scene: Talks about the odd freedom going shirtless in public after his top surgery, and how doing so actually prompted his return to the main channel; another man saw his surgery scars and said he was going for top surgery soon, and felt good at seeing Jack proudly going shirtless.
- Stage Names: Jackson Miloh was initially a stage name, and he wanted to avoid being associated with his legal name for personal reasons. Annoyed at friends and family constantly asking about it or making fun of him for it, he dropped it and goes by his legal name now.
- This Is Going to Be Huge: The above-mentioned Teen Life debacle? He did a video before it came out, talking about how excited and hopeful he was for it!
- Tom Hanks Syndrome: With regards to his film work, The Nutters and its Christmas Special were comedies. He next directed a bleak gang story called Poisoned Minds, and then a short about suicide called Listen. He also lent his hand to a horror film called Blood on the Bark.
- Trans Equals Gay: He came out as gay before coming out as trans, and confirms that many others do the same.
- Trans Tribulations:
- Several videos are devoted to his dysphoria and encountering transphobia in real life.
- Defied when it came to his own film Boxed In, wanting to avoid the clichés of trans-themed movies; the film instead examines toxic masculinity.
- Vocal Evolution: His voice has deepened considerably since 2016, thanks to starting testosterone in 2019.
- Weight Woe: Devotes a video admitting he struggled with body image, and lost an unhealthy amount of weight.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: To those who don't know the difference, his accent might sound a bit strange. He has a variant of a Dublin accent (he's from Finglas, which is North Dublin) that can often sound like a blend of Irish and American. Additionally, he moved around a lot as a child, which would affect one's speech patterns.
