Heh, he idolizes Sonic so much he even took on his body shape!
His materialism likely ties in with his sense of identity as well. The Sonichu medallion seems to exemplify this, he made a pretty big deal about Liquid's paper medallion specifically and felt like he had to point out that Sammy's medallion was fake in the comics. I don't know if it's a autism thing, or if it is somehow part of his dysphoria. His clothes seem related to the matter, he wears so many accessories these days.
His accessories seem to be tied both into his autism (uncomfortable sensations and fidgeting) and a sense of identity.
You knew Chris was True and Honest because he was wearing the medallion. You were supposed to know the Brown shirted imposter wasn’t, since he was wearing a paper medallion.
I think it’s all tied into Chris’s face blindness to a certain extent. Other people’s faces are a blur to Chris, so he found something else to differentiate people by.
Chris’s brand loyalty is probably a mix of shitty parenting and his autism: Chris is good, Chris uses Axe, therefore Axe is good. Chris is used to commercials from TV, so therefore there must be commercials in his comics.
Toys and things ultimately became how Chris relates to the world. Bob was old, Barb was a bitch, so they kept buying him shit. (And Bob probably associates computers and consoles with Chris “getting better” since this was something he naturally picked up.)
By the time they realized they had raised a materialistic manchild, it was already too late.
His materialism is closely linked to his autism and American upbringing. Ads everywhere, buy this new shit, watch that new shit. Consume, now, now, now.
So you’re saying that if Chris had been born in the UK, he would have grown up to be one of those trainspotting autists, standing on overpasses mumbling: “Th-that’s the 6.50 Express to eh *stresssigh* Luton!”
(Kinda makes you wonder what USSR Chris-Chan would have been like!)
As for Chris being a particular American phenomenon, I dunno.
Autism finds a way, no matter where the person is born.
It might not have been Sonic, but it would have been something else. (Hey, LEGO is Danish!) Ads are a fact of life everywhere, even in North Korea these days. There may be less crappy cartoons in other countries, but they’re there and Chris would have found something else to cling on to.
EDIT: Fuck, I’m really curious to see an artist impression of USSR Chri-Chan now!