The handmaid's tale is a book, a work of fiction about politics.

Many works of fiction provide political commentary.

There's no actual invisible hand of the free market either, just some pop-culture metaphor by some Scottish guy.

Yeah there a difference between popculture fiction written by hollywood with the intention to make a profit, and an essay by an actual philosopher intending to explain the workings of the real world.

I guess what im saying is that I agree that art is political, but some art is more rooted in reality and others are further from it. Why not make an art reference thats more relevant to reality to convey the argument?