The Religion of Wrestling
Displays of Religion in the WWE & Associated Companies
GOLDDUST
DUSTIN RUNNELS
Dustin Runnels takes on the persona of Golddust in the ring. Golddust is a large man with a pot belly who wears a body suit made out of what looks like black shrink-wrap. He also wears gold face paint, and sometimes some very outlandish embellishments such as feathers, sequence, glitter, and a blonde wig. Golddust's mannderisms are very flamboyant. He gets unusually close to people, and makes very lewd gestures such as licking the ropes on the ring in a very sexual kind of way.
Dustin Runnels himself is a born-again Christian. This outlandish, disturbing and inacurate portrayal of homosexuality through his gimmick is his own attempt to subtly convey a religious message of his own; that homosexuality, to him, is wrong, disturbing, and vulgar (Madison 2015). Golddust has toned down the gay thing lately. He's ditched the wig and the feathers and doesn't seem to touch himself on camera quite as much. Hopefully he will become more understanding of homosexuality in the future. Not all religious beliefs are good ones and not all evangelism is positive.
The character that Golddust is trying to portray is homosexual. Very blatantly so. The way Golddust interacts with those around him is very sexual and lewd. He likes to touch himself and take deep breaths, like he is in throes of sexual pleasure, during his promos. His mannerisms are intending to elicit an uncomfortable feeling from his audience, therefore making them not only uncomfortable with is character, but uncomfortable with homosexuality in general (Bonham 2001, 42). The blonde wig and dramatic eye makeup is reminiscent of drag attire.
