I do not think that there is any reason to think that a gold member would be any more prepared to actually undertake emergency opening of a door than anyone else
With Emirates, someone who is prepared to get to airport early is able to nab them; seems no better or worse than any other method
As a different example, travel on Qantas and would have to pay a fair amount of cash for an exit row on a long haul flight though can be booked in advance